İlker Aycı

Some Lesser Known Facts About İlker Aycı

• İlker Aycı is a Turkish businessperson who served as the Chairman of Turkish Airlines from 2015 to 2022. He was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Air India on 14 February 2022.

• After attending Bilkent University in Turkey, he moved to Leeds, England, for a research stay at the University of Leeds, where he worked in the Department of Political Sciences.

• He completed his graduation in 1994. Thereafter, he worked in various organisations like the pharmaceutical company Kurtsan Ilaclar A.S., Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, and Universal Dis Ticaret A.S.

• Aycı has also worked as an advisor to the Turkish politician Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who served as the 12th president of Turkey.

• From 2005 to 2006, Aycı served as the general manager in the Turkish insurance company Basak Sigorta A.S.

• In 2006, he joined the Turkey-based insurance company Gunes Sigorta A.S., from where he retired as general manager in 2011.

• In January 2011, Aycı was appointed as the chairman of The Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry Investment Support and Promotion Agency (ISPAT), the official organisation for promoting investment opportunities for the economic development of Turkey.

• After becoming the vice president of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) in 2013, Aycı was promoted to the position of chairman in January 2014.

• In 2015, he joined Turkish Airlines, the national flag carrier airline of Turkey, as an executive board member. Later, he was elevated to the position of chairman.

• The businessman has held positions as a board member and chairman in numerous Turkish organisations like the Insurance Association of Turkey, Vakif Emeklilik A.S., Foreign Economic Relations Board – Turkey China Business Council, and Vakif Bank Gunes Sigorta Sports Club (Champion of 2008 Europe Challange Cup).

• In 2016, Turkish Airlines, under the chairmanship of İlker Aycı, won the title of  “Europe’s Best Airline” for the 6th year in a row at the Skytrax World Airline Awards.

  

• He left Turkish Airlines to assume the position of CEO and Managing Director of Air India on 14 February 2022. Following the approval of its re-privatization, the airline was sold by the Government of India to its founder company, the Tata Group, which owns it via the SPV Talace Private Limited.

• He is fluent in three languages, Turkish, English, and Russian.

• In January 2022, İlker Aycı and his wife, were on a special visit in Kazakhstan when a protest broke out in the country due to lifting up of a price cap on fuel resulting in hiked up the prices of liquefied petroleum gas, which most people in the country used to run their vehicles. The couple were stranded in Almaty, the epicentre of the protest, where the presidential residence and the mayor’s office were burned by the raging Kazakhs. Due to the termination of flights owing to the internal turmoil in the country, Aycı and his wife were brought back to Turkey via a cargo plane of Turkish Airlines. Thereafter, Aycı was criticised for leaving behind his teammates during the escape, which he claimed to be a security measure.