Team size: circa 40

Can you please give us an idea of the sort of work your team has done recently?

Turkish airlines flies to many more destinations than any other airline, meaning we have recently worked on numerous international and local transactions of our incorporation of wide, narrow body, and engine. Besides this, in view of the situation with the effects of the pandemic on the aviation industry, Turkish Airlines has reviewed its fleet plan and has reached an agreement with the manufacturers, rescheduled certain deliveries, and adapted the overall outstanding orders to their operational and financial capabilities to ensure a solid basis for the future. Also, we should mention Turkish Airlines’ enormous demerger project of its cargo business. A 100% Turkish Airlines owned THY Hava Kargo Taşımacılığı Anonim Şirketi has been established and all departments of our incorporation including legal team have been working for this demerger by using the “partial demerger via facilitated procedure transaction through associate model” which we must get ready for the transfer of all the cargo related businesses including the cargo aircrafts, staff etc. by the demerger date.

Which recent political, economic, or regulatory changes have impacted the company and the team the most?

Since the JPY and CHF LIBOR reference rates ceased to exist as of 31 December 2021, all our agreements using the relevant reference rates needed to be amended. For this reason, we had to amend around 50 aircraft leases and 30 derivative transactions. We also experienced severe economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, like many others in the aviation industry. It should also be noted that within this period, we dealth with diverse and constantly changing regulatory changes relating to travel and flight restrictions implemented individually by each country. Despite the forementioned hindrances, we are both proud and happy to emerge from this process with a solid financial structure in a fully compliant state with the interchanging rules and flight restrictions which have become the new reality.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

As a basis, we place immense importance on working and cooperating with companies who are confident enough with their expertise and who can also adapt to their own workflow speeds so that they can act as part of the team. In this context, upon determining the companies that are suitable for our own Incorporation structure, my most prominent advice would be to build an efficient communication scheme for each party to receive regular and mutual feedback so that both parties can take the necessary actions in accordance with an arising need and ensure that the established relationship would be sound and continuing long term.