Turkish Airlines prefers cooperation

Turk Hava Yollari, the carrier known as Turkish Airlines, aims for increased cooperation with Spanair and has no plans for acquisitions "for the moment", CEO Temel Kotil said. There's "no progress" in talks to buy a controlling stake in Serbia's JAT Airways, Kotil said in an interview in Istanbul. Turkish Airlines is seeking more co-operation with Spanair in addition to a code-sharing agreement with the company, he added, without giving specifics. Turkish Airlines is expanding routes, buying more planes and spending more on advertising to grab market share from rivals including British Airways. It now flies to 142 destinations worldwide, Kotil said. The company ordered 13 planes from Airbus in March. "There are several carriers in Europe and the Balkans that are seeking partners but our board hasn't made a strategic decision to look for a partner at the moment," Kotil said. Article continues below "We have a code-sharing agreement with Spanair and have had some talks with Spanair on partnership but our main focus is cooperation for more flights and destinations with them. We can have joint flights to South America."