On the occasion of International Civil Aviation Day, a panel titled “Aviation Development in the Antalya Region” was held on Monday, December 8, at 14:00 in the Mor Salon of Alanya Hamdullah Emin Paşa University. Alanya and Antalya regional tourism professionals showed intense interest in the panel, where the opening speeches were delivered by Rector Prof. Dr. Erol Sayın and District Governor and also HEP Foundation President Dr. Hasan Tanrısever. In addition to national and international civil aviation statistics in Türkiye, the studies of the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the importance of civil aviation, the discussions primarily focused on the expectations of tourism professionals from airline companies.
Panel moderator, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yıldırım Saldıraner, an academic from Alanya HEP University, opened the panel by first explaining the significance and importance of the day. He stated that in our region, where tourism activities are most intensive, it is important to cooperate within the entirety of tourism and aviation activities, and that this panel aimed to bring stakeholders together to determine mutual expectations and carry out studies toward common benefit in order to contribute to this cooperation. He handed the floor over to the panelists, stating that the studies of Alanya HEP University, which attaches importance to Alanya and the subject of tourism, will continue to develop day by day in this field, and that support will always be provided for the studies to be conducted on these matters by other institutions and organizations.
Following the speech by Antalya Airport General Manager Osman Serdar, Burhan Sili, Member of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Hotel Association (TÜROFED) and President of the Alanya Association of Tourism and Hotel Operators (ALTİD), addressed the subject from the perspective of tourism professionals. Explaining tourism data for both international and Alanya contexts, accommodation capacities, and airport statistics, Sili provided information regarding winter tourism, which is the most emphasized topic in the sector, and stated that it is important to support these efforts with state incentives alongside the number of aircraft seats arriving from domestic and international sources. Subsequently, Melih Dipova, Deputy General Manager of ICF Antalya Airport; Cengiz Aşıklı, TAV Gazipaşa Alanya Airport Coordinator; Serdar Ali Ermiş, President of the Antalya Airport Airlines Operators Committee (AOC); Batuğhan Karaer, Deputy General Manager of Corendon Airlines; and Mustafa Minareci, SunExpress Airlines Antalya Station Manager, shared their perspectives on the subject from the aviation industry's point of view.