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Turkish Airlines adds Vancouver to its Canadian gateways
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Turkish Airlines Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner lands at YVR. Photo: courtesy Flytedeck.
On May 2, Turkish Airlines introduced three times weekly flights to Vancouver from Istanbul, Turkey. Vancouver is now the 14th destination serviced by Turkish Airlines in North America. Established in 1933 with a fleet of five aircraft, Star Alliance member Turkish Airlines has a fleet of 362 aircraft (passenger and cargo) flying to 319 worldwide destinations. The decision to launch the new Vancouver service was an investment in Canada that was several years in the making and required significant planning. “Launching in a pandemic
is not what any airline would choose, but we are committed to supporting important cargo travel and the people who are desperate to reach loved ones who need them urgently,” according to an official statement from Turkish Airlines. In 2021, Turkish Airlines attained Diamond certification status by the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) Health Safety, which sets the industry standard for customer-centric COVID-19 certification. This includes achieving the highest standards of cleanliness and sanitization in 10 categories and 75 contact points, including contactless check-in processes, social dis-
tance application, extra cleaning measures, hygiene experts and hygiene kits. “Now more so than ever, passenger health and safety is at the forefront of what we do and this is especially important as we continue to support essential travel and cargo transportation during this pandemic,” said M. ilker Aycı Aycı, Turkish Airlines chairman of the board and the executive committee. “As the Turkish national flag carrier, we have specified new criteria and taken new measures in all our procedures, together with health authorities.” In addition to releasing new guidelines for safe travel,
Turkish Airlines has collaborated with its brand ambassador Dr. Mehmet Oz, worldrenowned Turkish American surgeon, author and television personality, to educate the public on protection protocols for every point of contact throughout their journey. The measures are grouped into five stages—before the flight, at the airport, aircraft boarding, in-aircraft protocols, and getting off the plane. The Vancouver market will be serviced using a Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner with 30 Business and 270 Economy seats capacity. Introductory round-trip ticket fares from Vancouver to
Istanbul will start at $1,448 CAD with taxes included. The total flight duration from Vancouver to Istanbul is 12 hours, 28 minutes, with flights occurring on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Currently, any person over the age of five, flying from anywhere in the world to Canada, is mandated to prove a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours of departure. Turkish Airlines requires this negative test result be presented upon check-in and again before boarding the flight. For more information, please visit turkishairlines. com.
Month-long celebration of Indigenous history, heritage and diversity The month of June is National Indigenous History Month in Canada, with Monday, June 21 celebrated as National Indigenous Peoples Day. Virtual activities will be held across Canada on that day, celebrating the rich, cultural diversity of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. The Canadian Constitution recognizes these three groups
as Aboriginal peoples, also known as Indigenous peoples. Although these groups share many similarities, they each have their own distinct heritage, language, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. In cooperation with Indigenous organizations, the Government of Canada chose June 21, the summer solstice, for National Aboriginal
Day, now known as National Indigenous Peoples Day. For generations, many Indigenous peoples and communities have celebrated their culture and heritage on or near this day, due to the significance of the summer solstice, which marks June 21 as the longest day of the year. Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is located on
The Cedar Connection at YVR’s Domestic Terminal is a large and complex sculpture by Musqueam artist Susan Point that evokes the landscape and culture of the area’s original people. Photo: courtesy YVR.
unceded First Nations land that is Musqueam traditional territory.
See INDIGENOUS HISTORY page 2
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