Middle East carriers have reason to take heed of the recent warning made by Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA) that they should worry about Turkish Airlines.

In September, Turkish Airlines signed a letter of intent to acquire 40 Boeing Dreamliners.

This development indicates the airline is keen to expand beyond its core markets - most cities in Middle East, Europe and Africa that are within three- to five-hour flying distance from  its main hub in Istanbul - served primarily by its narrow body fleet.

The airline has never been shy in articulating its objective to become a super-connector and to replace the Middle East’s top three airlines. The goal appears unchanged in spite of its see-sawing financial performance: the airline generated $77m in losses in 2016 following a highly profitable 2015 ($1.7bn).

Revenue-wise, the airline is significantly smaller compared with Dubai-based Emirates Airline, and is comparable with Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways.

Its core fleet also comprises narrow body aircraft that have much shorter range than the three GCC airlines, which make their services and products more complementary than competitive.

As things stand, Turkish Air is seen as a serious player in point-to-point, short haul traffic, while the younger and bigger GCC airlines focus on hub-to-hub long-haul routes serviced by bigger planes such as the A380s.

However, as Nathan Pearce, IATA chief economist, recently warned: “Turkish Airlines has been performing a ‘super connector’ role with a different business model, using single-aisle aircraft. But it benefits from a lot of the geographical advantages, and it has grown dramatically in the last decade. So it’s certainly a competitor for the Sixth Freedom connecting traffic markets.”

In addition to its geographical advantage, Turkish Airlines offers cheaper tickets compared to its GCC rivals and in some cases flies more often to certain cities - the airline flies to nine cities in Saudi Arabia alone.

Apart from its cheaper, more frequent flights and its latest intent to expand its wide body fleet, another factor that should worry Middle East carriers is the completion next year of the new airport in Istanbul, which will have a capacity to handle 90 million passengers a year, just 2.5 million shy of Dubai International airport’s current capacity.

While it will probably take some time before Turkish Airlines becomes a real threat, and for Istanbul airport to develop to a comparable level as Dubai’s main airport, it requires Emirates Airline to be more vigilant in terms of its business model. It also means loss-making Etihad Airways and embattled Qatar Airways will have to quickly find ways to turn around their fiscal performance.