Turkish Airlines has gone from strength to strength in recent years , adding new routes across Europe and Asia as well as expanding into Africa . A new multi-billion dollar hub airport in the works in Istanbul means this impressive growth story will soon be given yet another boost . But with many ambitious competitors also expanding across the Gulf and the Middle East , can the Turkish aviation vision continue to soar ? John Defterios spoke to the airline 's CEO , Temel Kotil , to find out . Below is an edited version of their conversation . John Defterios ( JD ) : Why do you think there is so much growth coming out of Turkey ? Temel Kotil ( TK ) : The airline business is so big and economies are growing in East Asia , Africa and Europe which is feeding us so we are going to grow . This is very simple . JD : When do you get to the point when the market is too saturated as there are also many expanding hubs across the Middle East and particularly in the Gulf states ? TK : That 's the beauty of the airline business . There are about 3.1 billion travelers and by 2030 that will be between seven or eight billion , so there are more coming . We are growing at 18 % . Our friends in the Gulf are growing at about 10 % to 15 % . What is happening is that passengers are floating ( between carriers ) . So you have the option to go from City X in Europe to City Y in Asia to go via Istanbul , via Dubai , via Abu Dhabi and so on . Who will become the winner will be the airline who loves the passengers . We love the passengers . We are the best airline in Europe for the last two years . Hopefully we will continue that but who knows ? We will work hard . It 's a big business and it 's a big market . If we are good we can become the winner . ( Having a ) good brand , quality , prices , network , size ; this matters . JD : You 're building major infrastructure in Istanbul with a third airport that has a $ 35 billion price tag . Some say this is grandiosity and that you do n't really need an airport of that size . How do you counter these critics ? TK : No , we need it . From Istanbul we have to cover the whole of Europe . We have more than 100 destinations coming as a European carrier . We ( also ) cover the whole of the Middle East , Africa , northern Africa , Central Africa all through Central Asia . This means Turkish Airlines becomes a nice feeder from Istanbul . By 2023 , depending upon ourselves will be ... 120 million ( passengers every year ) . Because of this ... you can make a big investment in the airport . ( We can ) combine these bigger airports with the passenger capabilities of the Turkish Airlines . History will change . The Asian carriers who are feeding the other hubs ( just now ) they will appear in Istanbul . Today they want to fly to Istanbul but because of capacity concerns they are not coming . Turkey is a growing country . The cost issue is not a problem because of the volume from Turkish Airlines is already put on the table already .
Turkish Airlines expanding into Asia , Europe and Africa . New hub airport in Istanbul with first stage set to open in 2017 . Aviation industry set to expand dramatically by 2030 .