Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ANKARA2764
2005-05-13 16:15:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

TURKISH AIRLINE BANNED BY NETHERLANDS

Tags:  EAIR TU 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

131615Z May 05
UNCLAS ANKARA 002764 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

FAA BRUSSELS FOR KURT EDWARDS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAIR TU
SUBJECT: TURKISH AIRLINE BANNED BY NETHERLANDS


SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.

UNCLAS ANKARA 002764

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

FAA BRUSSELS FOR KURT EDWARDS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAIR TU
SUBJECT: TURKISH AIRLINE BANNED BY NETHERLANDS


SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.


1. (SBU) The Netherlands embassy confirmed press
reports that on May 12 the Netherlands Transportation
Ministry's civil aviation authority banned Turkish
charter carrier Onur Air from operating to or from the
Netherlands for a period of one month. Germany has
implemented a similar decision. The Dutch embassy
thought Belgium and perhaps other European countries
would follow suit.


2. (SBU) The embassy official said the decision was
made after a year of discussions between Dutch and
Turkish civair authorities about technical problems and
operational violations related to Onur Air. The
problems were widespread and not limited to specific
aircraft. Despite these discussions (the next meeting
is scheduled for May 16),the problems had become
worse, culminating with a recent incident in Antalya in
which an Onur jet's engine prematurely reversed thrust
upon landing. (Also, during a final flight made after
issuance of the Dutch letter, the landing gear on an
overloaded Onur plane apparently collapsed on landing
in the Netherlands.)


3. (SBU) The senior air safety official of the
Turkish Directorate for Civil Aviation (DGCA)
acknowledged to us separately that a number of
technical problems had been detected in Onur airplanes,
but said that these were not sufficient grounds for the
Netherlands to cancel Onur's operations. He suggested
that it would have been more appropriate to ban
problematic planes (in contrast to the Dutch embassy's
statement). The official was angry about what he said
was lack of prior coordination by the Dutch. Saying
that DGCA was ready to share its safety audits with
other agencies, he alleged that the decision was made
on commercial and political, rather than safety,
grounds. In addition to the Netherlands and Germany,
he thought Belgium and perhaps Switzerland would impose
similar bans. (With 75 flights a week, Onur dominates
lucrative tourism charter business between Turkey and
the Netherlands.)


4. (SBU) The Dutch ban left 9,000 Dutch tourists
stranded in Turkey. The embassy and Onur are now
looking for ways to repatriate them. Established in
1992, Onur Air operates a limited scheduled domestic
service out of Istanbul, but its main business is
tourism charter flights to and from Europe. Including
the 75 flights to the Netherlands, Onur operates 300
charter flights to Europe per week; German and
Switzerland are the other main markets. Ten Tour, a
Turkish tour operator, has been the sole shareholder
since 1996. Onur Air is currently providing flight
training and technical consultancy to other airline
companies for Airbus A-320 and A321 airplanes.
According to Onur's website, Airbus Industrie awarded
Onur a "Technical Dispatch Reliability Certificate" in
1992 and an "Operational and Technical Reliability
Certificate" in 1994. Onur Air was also the first
Turkish airline to obtain the Joint Aviation
Authority's (JAA) JAR 145 certificate for maintenance.

Aircraft Number Seating Capacity
-------------- -------------- --------------
A-320 2 174x2= 348
A-321 8 220x8=1760
A-300 5 316x5=1580
A300-600 4 316x4=1260
MD-88 5 172x5= 860
--------------
TOTAL 24 5808

EDELMAN