Grief as Turkey operator Anatolian Sky collapses

The trade has spoken of its sadness following the "heart-breaking" collapse of Turkey specialist Anatolian Sky.

Sharelines

"Another good one bites the dust" as Turkey specialist Anatolian Sky folds

Yvonne Holmes, director of Classic Travel, which had clients booked to holiday with the operator before announcing it had gone into liquidation on July 1, said the demise of the company was a case of "another good one bites the dust".

"They were a great operator and very good at looking after the trade. We're going to miss working with them as we do love the team," she told TTG. "They used to use our shop as a bit of a base and had their brochures delivered here so we would see their rep all the time. It's just really heart-breaking news."

Deben Travel's Lee Hunt said his agency also had customers due to travel with the company. He told TTG: "We did use them quite a bit and it's sad to see smaller independent operators falling by the wayside. We had regular visits from them and they had great service over the phone. They were the go-to operator for us when booking that boutique style of product for Turkey that they did so well."

Meanwhil e, owner of fellow Turkey specialist Simpson Travel, Graham Simpson, said that Anatolian Sky's collapse "did not come as a surprise" due to the turbulent political situation the destination was facing.

Turkey has been rocked by a string of attacks in recent months involving both Kurdish separatists and Islamic State terrorists. Last week a gun and bomb attack at Istanbul Ataturk airport left 44 dead and more than 230 hurt.

"It's a real shame as they were a good company who had been going for a long time," he said.

"Anyone who is watching the news can see what's going on and how hard it is for business at the moment; specialists are feeling the pain. We're probably one of the last remaining specialists to Turkey now and we're still committed to our programme."

Akin Koc, the boss of Anatolian Sky, spoke of the problems of operating in a troubled country, saying "every new attack has had a devastating effect".

Koc said a strategy of diversification into destinations such as Croatia did not drum up enough business to account for the loss of the Turkey trade. He added: "It has become impossible to cope and sustain the business, particularly through recent attacks."

Koc said the decision was made to pull the plug on the company to avoid further disruption to clients.

Source: Grief as Turkey operator Anatolian Sky collapses