Cyprus Turkish Airlines

A KTHY Boeing 737-800 takes off from London Heathrow Airport, England. (2007)

A KTHY Airbus A321 at Manchester Airport, England. (2006)

• 1975—First scheduled flight takes place on 3 February
• 1976—Airline begins leasing aircraft including DC-9s, Boeing 727-200s, and Boeing 720s
  • Sales office opens in Kyrenia
• 1977—Company registered in Istanbul, Turkey[4]
• 1981—Scheduled flights to London begin
• 1990—Two 727-200s purchased
• 1991—Ground operations staff and cockpit / cabin crew employed
• 2000—Airline begins leasing two Boeing 737-800s long-term
• 2002—Upon completion of technical flight hours, all four 727-200s are grounded and sold
• 2004—Airline begins leasing three Airbus A321-200s long-term
  • In-flight magazine Caretta re-introduced
• 2006—ISO 9001-2000 Quality Control System certificate obtained in April
  • Departure Control System begins operating at Ercan International Airport
  • Ground services in Turkish airports contracted to HAVAŞ in December
• 2007—Cyprus Airport Services formed, following on from KTHY's partnership with HAVAŞ
• 2008—Male cabin staff added
  • Protocol for flights to Sweden, Norway, and Finland signed with DETUR
• 2009—First scheduled flight to Scandinavia on 7 February, to Helsinki
  • Charter flights to Italy, Romania, Slovenia, and Hungary planned
  • Airline receives delivery of one Airbus A320-200
  • Planned expansion of fleet to 12 aircraft by 2012 announced
• 2010—Operations cease on 21 June
  • Bankruptcy declared on 19 September
• 2014—Re-launch as Karpas Airlines planned for April[5]

• 4 Boeing 727-200s
• 1 Boeing 737-200
• 1 Airbus A300B4 (leased from August to September 1996 from Holiday Air)[8]
• 1 Airbus A310-200
• 1 Airbus A310-300
• 1 Airbus A320-231
• 2 Airbus A321-211s
• 1 McDonnell Douglas MD-81
• 1 McDonnell Douglas MD-82
• 2 McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30s

Cyprus Turkish Airlines offered only two classes:

• Economy: This class was offered on all of the new aircraft. Full meal or snack service was provided free of charge. In-flight entertainment was not offered.
• Economy Plus: This class was introduced after KTHY's elimination of Business and First Class services years earlier, due to the grounding of its Airbus A310s and Boeing 727s.

In early 2008, the airline introduced an express check-in service at Ercan for passengers who were not checking any bags. There were separate express check-in counters for passengers with only carry-on luggage and for those without any luggage at all.

The airline had a "Special Passenger Programme for Frequent Flyers". Participants had priority for seat reservations and an extra baggage allowance, avoided waiting at check-in, and earned points redeemable for travel.[9]

On 7 April 2010, starting at 6 a.m., Cyprus Turkish Airlines staff staged a six-hour wildcat strike that grounded all planes. Travellers to and from Northern Cyprus were distressed and severely inconvenienced. Communication from the airline to travelers about the delays was poor.