During times of financial stress and economic difficulties, many country’s governments reserve the right to intervene with certain aspects of particular businesses. One such common strategy is the implementation of a flag carrier airline. By declaring an airline to be a flag carrier, the government of a country bestows that company with privileges that give it exemption from certain rules and regulations, as well as financial aid. This is undertaken to ensure that the airline is still able to provide the country with international trade, as well as international business opportunities and a steady flow of tourism. One country that utilises this technique is Turkey with their company Turkish Airlines.

The company has its headquarters at the Turkish Airlines General Management Building which is located on the premises of the Ataturk Airport located in Yesilkoy in the Bakirkoy district of Istanbul. The airline operates scheduled and chartered services to both domestic and international destinations for commercial passengers. The company operates over forty one domestic cities throughout Turkey, as well as to one hundred and forty-six destinations at various airports around the world. In total this means that Turkish Airlines operates services to a total of one hundred and eighty-seven different airports located in the rest of Asia as well as throughout Europe, Africa, North America and South America.

As well as being headquartered at Ataturk International Airport, the airline also uses the location as its main hub and base. There are also secondary hubs used by the company that are located at Sabiha Goksen International Airport, Esenboga International Airport and Adnan Menderes Airport.
The company has seen a steady rise in both the amount of passengers that it carries and the amount of revenue that the company generates annually since its original inception in 1993. Incidentally, during 2011, the airline carried more than twenty-nine million passengers throughout the year and generated a revenue of over 5.6 US dollars. The large revenue that the company manages to accrue is due in part to its ownership and co-ownership of several other airline brands. For example, the company owns B&H Airlines, SunExpress, North Cyprus Airlines and AnadoluJet to name but a few. Many of these airlines are operated and based in nearby countries in Europe to the North of Turkey. For example, the airline is currently in communications with Serbian airline JAT Airways in an attempt to form a new company to replace the debt ridden airline. This expansion into the European market is not surprising considering the continued talks for plans to accept Turkey into the European Union at some point in the next few years.