About

Türk Hava Yolları (Turkish Airlines) is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey, headquartered at Atatürk Airport in Yeşilköy Bakırköy, Istanbul. Led by head legal counsel Ali Uysal, the legal team can take a certain amount of credit for the company’s global network coverage thanks to its strict compliance with flight safety. Following a department restructure, which set up a monitoring and reporting structure for the legal teams of the 220 local branches of Turkish Airlines, the team was also involved in the company’s first capital market issuance in 2015 to boost its investor base. Members of the 30-strong team are currently helping the company expand its operations in India, Romania and Russia as well as acquiring a Bombardier Challenger 850, an executive aircraft to be used exclusively for VIP flights. For Uysal, it is important that the legal function not only offers sound legal advice but also secures commercial opportunities which prove valuable to the company. Under Uysal, the legal team has contributed to revenue by helping the airline secure codeshare agreements with 43 other major airlines. Via these codeshare agreements, Turkish Airlines is able to increase revenue by providing seats for its customers on the flights of other airlines. In line with the company’s drive to enhance publicity, the company’s legal team has been involved in securing some remarkable sponsorship and promotion agreements with some of the world’s renowned athletes, actors, films and sports tournaments. For example, the legal team’s work has led the company to be the primary sponsor of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague since 2010, and was among the sponsors of the 2010 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Similarly, in 2015, the legal team and UEFA finalised a sponsorship deal for UEFA Euro 2016, becoming the first airline sponsor of the UEFA European Championship tournament. Also in 2016, Turkish Airlines announced its partnership with Warner Bros to sponsor the film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The legal team again was at the helm of negotiating and finalising this agreement. The picture has not been completely rosy however. In the wake of the Turkish coup d’état attempt of 2016, the Federal Aviation Authority banned flights between Turkey and the United States. This posed a particular problem for Turkish Airlines as a key component of the airline’s strategy was to deliver journeys between the USA and hard-to-reach destinations in Africa, the Middle East, and India. After exhaustive efforts by the legal team, this ban was lifted on 18 July, and Turkish Airlines resumed flights to the US on 19 July.