AtlasGlobal, named ''Atlasjet'' until 31 March 2015, was a Turkish

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

headquartered in Istanbul, which operated scheduled domestic and international passenger services as well as charter flights, mostly out of its base at Istanbul Airport. The airline filed for bankruptcy on 12 February 2020, and ceased operations permanently after that date.

History

Early years

The airline was established on 14 March 2001 and started operations on 1 June 2001. Formerly known as ''Atlasjet International Airlines'', it was set up as a subsidiary of Öger Holdings. As of 1 February 2006, Öger's 45% share at Atlasglobal was taken over and Ali Murat Ersoy became the president of the board of directors at Atlasglobal. The company is led by its

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Sermed Temizkanhad 730 employees (as of 2017). In August 2012, AtlasGlobal Airlines contracted Ryan International Airlines, a US airline, to operate religious pilgrimage flights to cities such as

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

and Tel Aviv. In January 2013, AtlasGlobal failed to fulfill the payments to Ryan International, which prompted the termination of the co-operation without advance notice. Ryan International Airlines, already in a bankruptcy reorganization process, was not able to recover from the loss and therefore faced impending financial difficulties, which led to its liquidation.

Operational issues and end of operations

On 26 November 2019, AtlasGlobal announced a temporary suspension of all flights due to a restructuring of the airline. It was further announced that all ticket sales would be suspended until 16 December 2019 with flights planned to resume by 21 December. On 16 December 2019, Atlasglobal resumed scheduled flight operations, five days ahead of its previously announced return. Throughout the suspension it had maintained charter services, with two A321s serving domestic Turkish destinations as well Tehran and Baghdad. In a statement to the

Saba news agency The Saba News Agency (), also known as the Yemen News Agency (), is the official state news agency of Yemen. History and profile SABA was founded on 16 November 1970 as the official news agency of North Yemen, and is headquartered in the capit ...

, Atlasglobal said its revised business plan will see it focus more on charters as opposed to scheduled flights. It did not disclose which routes would be dropped as part of the adjustment. On 7 January 2020, the airline announced it would be suspending operations again, until 9 February 2020. On 29 January 2020, it has been announced that AtlasGlobal returned their sole two Airbus A330-200s to their lessors.ch-aviation.com - Turkey's AtlasGlobal suspends A330 operations
29 January 2020 On 12 February 2020, Atlasglobal filed for bankruptcy and halted its operations immediately.

Destinations

, before suspending all flights, AtlasGlobal offered scheduled flights (excluding charter flights) to the following destinations:

Historic fleet

Over the years, the following aircraft types were operated:

Accidents and incidents

*On 18 August 2007, Atlasjet Flight 1011 from Ercan,

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, island of Cyprus. It is List of states with limited recognition, recognis ...

to Istanbul, Turkey, which was operated by a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 ( registered TC-AKN), was hijacked by two passengers shortly after take-off. The perpetrators claimed to be members of

Al Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

carrying explosives, and demanded the pilots divert the aircraft to Tehran, Iran. Instead, the aircraft landed at

Antalya Airport Antalya Airport is a major international airport located northeast of the city centre of Antalya, Turkey. It is a major destination during the European summer leisure season due to its location at the country's Mediterranean coast. It handled ...

in Turkey at 08:15 local time, officially in order to refuel. Negotiations with the local authorities began, during which all females and children on board were allowed to leave. A ruckus occurred when other passengers and crew tried to flee, during which the hijackers surrendered. There were no notable injuries among the 138 other passengers and 5 crew members on board. *On 30 November 2007, Atlasjet Flight 4203 from Istanbul to Isparta crashed upon approaching Isparta Süleyman Demirel Airport, killing all 50 passengers and 7 crew members on board. The aircraft that operated this flight was wet-leased from World Focus Airlines.Atlasjet Flight 4203
Aviation Safety Network.

References

External links

Official website
{{IATA members, europe Defunct airlines of Turkey Airlines established in 2001 Airlines disestablished in 2020 2020 disestablishments in Turkey Defunct charter airlines Companies based in Istanbul Turkish brands Turkish companies established in 2001