The Turkish Airlines recently outlined their country’s flag in the sky while stamping it with their signature, marking 100 years of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. By Bayar Jain
In a rather Kafke-esque world right now, Turkish Airlines has taken it in their stride to paint positivity in the skies (literally!). In honour of the founding of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the national flag carrier airline of the country drew the world’s biggest national flag in the sky.
The TC-JJF registered Boeing 777-300 aircraft, which arrived in Ankara on the morning of April 23, took off on the same day from Ankara Esenboğa Airport at 09:40 am, local time.
This particular date holds a special significance to the country as it coincides with their National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, a public holiday marking the foundation day of the Grand National Assembly of the country. This year’s celebrations were more special as it marked the centennial year.
The flight lasted approximately two hours and followed a route in which the country’s flags’ crescent and stars were drawn in the skies. In order to track the route and emergent designs, live air traffic site Flightradar24 was used to provide flight tracking data. Artwork aside, a commercial film which followed TK1920 – a name representing the founding date of the parliament – was broadcast across the airlines’ social media accounts later that day.
Captain Öner Samyel and Captain Murat Gülkanat, who made this historic flight, made a special announcement in the sky above the Assembly building itself. The announcement, which referred to a statement by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey, said, “Sovereignty unconditionally belongs to the nation.”
Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, M. İlker Aycı said: “As our country’s national flag carrier, we dedicate today’s exclusive flight to our children, the guardians of our future.”
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