ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Airlines CEO Temel Kotil announced Friday his resignation to become the head of a Turkish aerospace company.
Kotil, who was the head of Turkey's flag carrier since April 2005, will work at Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).
"My decision to leave Turkish Airlines derives from a new opportunity to work in the field of aviation and space technologies. There are many projects and investments made in this field in Turkey," he said.
In his farewell message to Turkish Airlines employers, Kotil said that, since 2013, the company had become an airline that flew to the most destinations in the world.
The company currently flies to 116 countries around the world with over 300 aircraft.
"At the beginning of my stint as general manager in 2005, Turkish Airlines was an airline that flew to 102 destinations, operated 2.000 weekly flights, carried 12 million passengers per year, and had a fleet of 73 aircraft," he said. "We ranked 40th in the world’s biggest airline companies; now, we rank 10th."
Kotil pointed out that the company's annual income increased from $2 billion to $10 billion in a decade.
"The number of pilots in our company rose from 640 to 4,500, while crew members increased from 1,700 to more than 10,000," he added.
He also stressed the company's focus on multiplying destinations served on the African continent.
"We’ve become the only airline that connects Somalia to the rest of the world by operating safe flights to and from Mogadishu for the last six years," he added.
Earlier on Friday, the airline stated that the Tanzanian city of Zanzibar would be the company's 293rd destination worldwide and the 50th in 31 African countries.
The airline carried 42.7 million passengers, to both domestic and international destinations, between January and August this year, according to a company statement released last month.
Turkish Airlines was named "Best Airline in Europe" in 2016 by U.K.- based consultant Skytrax for the sixth consecutive year.