Tickets for AJet a Turkish Airlines subsidiary established to offer affordable air travel — and several private airline companies have turned into a profit opportunity for domestic and foreign travel agencies. China-based online platform Trip.com, in particular, is listing flights not available through local sales channels at exorbitant prices.
For example, although the Bodrum–Ankara flights on 27 July are shown as fully booked on AJet’s official website, the same flights are available on Trip.com. A ticket normally sold for 849 TRY on AJet’s platform is listed for a staggering 15,069 TRY on Trip.com.
Profits Transferred Abroad
Experts explain that these foreign operators purchase tickets from AJet and similar airlines at low prices well in advance and then sell them at significantly inflated rates closer to the departure date. These platforms operate through Global Distribution Systems (GDS), which allow them to pull available seats in real time and sell them. Although the ticket is recorded directly in the airline’s system, factors such as high commissions, stock risk, exchange rate differences, and surge pricing drive the final cost to extreme levels.
