AJet, a low-cost airline based in Turkey, has recently obtained its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and is preparing to commence its flight operations by March 2024, in time for the peak travel season in summer 2024. The airline is fully owned by Turkish Airlines, the national carrier, and was formerly known as AnadoluJet until it underwent a significant rebranding process in November 2023, which resulted in the airline being relaunched under the new name of AJet.
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According to Turkey's public disclosure platform (KAP), AJet was granted its own AOC on January 2, 2024, which marks its transition from a subsidiary of the parent company to an independent airline. Turkish Airlines issued a statement confirming the accomplishment and said, "All application processes of our subsidiary AJet for obtaining an Air Operator Certificate within the framework of the Regulation on Commercial Air Transport Enterprises was completed and AJet was granted an Air Operator Certificate by the General Directorate of Civil Aviation on 2.01.2024.
"During the rebranding process, Ahmet Bolat, the Chairperson of Turkish Airlines, stated that AJet was relaunched as part of the parent company's objectives for the next ten years, and expressed confidence that the airline would become an essential player in the global low-cost aviation sector. AJet will operate from two bases, Sabiha Gökçen Airport (SAW) in Istanbul and Esenboğa Airport (ESB) in the capital city of Ankara. With the AOC secured, AJet is ready to embark on a busy summer schedule, serving 93 destinations in 33 countries with its fleet of 103 aircraft in 2024.
The airline's current fleet consists of 13 Airbus A320s, 21 A321s, and 55 Boeing 737s (-800 and MAX 8s), with more aircraft to be added before the summer travel peak. Turkish Airlines had previously attempted to launch a spin-off airline named AnadoluJet in 2021, but the plan was put on hold due to poor market conditions caused by the pandemic. However, with the COVID-19 situation improving, Turkish Airlines resumed the process in early 2023, taking into account the growth that AnadoluJet experienced in 2022 and the high forward bookings for 2023. According to Turkish Airlines, AnadoluJet's average load factor percentage was 90% in 2023, nearly ten percentage points higher than that of Turkish Airlines. AnadoluJet has been expanding its scheduled services over the last few months, adding routes between Istanbul and Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport (BEG), Ankara Esenboğa Airport (ESB), and London Stansted Airport (STN), as well as Istanbul to Rome-Fiumicino Airport (FCO).