Air Partner’s Turkish team are (left to right) Serkan Topcu, country manager; Emir Ozdabak, charter sales manager; and Gunes Nomaler, commercial manager.

Turkey adds growing weight to Air Partner's emerging markets strategy

Air Partner's policy of developing business in tandem with key emerging markets is paying off in Turkey. The country is now living up to its objective of becoming a key bridge between east and west, according to Dubai-based Kevin Ducksbury, director Middle East and Asia.

The initial three-strong team of Turkish nationals are strongly focusing on the cargo side, but vip charter business is also benefiting with demand for products and services such as Air Partner's pre-paid 25-hour JetCard scheme which has seen early success in the Middle East.

Air Partner Turkey's Istanbul office is headed by Serkan Topcu, formerly of cargo logistics company Schenker Logistics and staffed by colleagues Emir Ozdabak and Gunes Nomaler.

"Air Partner's client base continues to grow despite the recession and part of this success is due to the development of key hubs such as the UAE and Hong Kong," says Ducksbury. "Turkey fits within the group's strategy to strengthen its presence in the Middle East and Asia regions, while Istanbul is ideally located as the bridge between our established operations in Europe and our growing ventures in the Middle East. The so-called BRIC countries of Russia, India and China have demonstrated that the emerging markets are good places to do business and we have already entered two of the three (India and Russia)."

Ducksbury adds: "Business in Turkey has developed in line with our targets and projections."

Air Partner's opening in Hong Kong is another strategic move and this base will be focusing on freight charter activity. Richard Smith, director of group freight, says: "Hong Kong is renowned as a strong market for air cargo and our presence there bolsters our existing freight departments in the UK, France, Germany, the US and the Middle East."

He adds: "In response to a short 'peak period' late last year, we operated a series of charters from Hong Kong which under-lined there is demand in the region which we can capitalise on. Now, we can offer a quality service with local expertise."