About

Experienced aviation lawyer Ali Uysal has been the head legal counsel for Turkish Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, for the last three years heading all of its legal operations and managing more than 30 employees in the legal function. Leading significant changes in the legal department during his time there, Uysal has introduced a law office management system that has facilitated the organisation’s litigation function. He has also been behind a specialisation process that divided lawyers into sub-departments in accordance to their past practice experience and expertise in addition to setting up a monitoring and reporting structure for the legal teams of the 220 local branches of Turkish Airlines. Uysal highlights his participation in two major agreements that transformed the airline. In 2011, following the ratification of the Cape Town Convention by Turkey, he worked very closely with the Turkish Civil Aviation Authority to explain the legal status in the country regarding the implementation of the agreement. In March 2015, Uysal took part in Turkish Airlines’ first capital market issuance that has introduced the airline to a wider investor base and has created a benchmark for enhanced equipment trust certificates (EETC) transactions by airlines in emerging markets. Prior to this role Uysal had a four year spell at SunExpress Airlines where his role involved legal counselling in corporate issues for day-to-day management of the company, delivering legal opinions, as well as the follow up on litigations and execution proceedings. This role helped him build his knowledge in civil aviation law, competition law, aircraft finance and contract law finance.