Istanbul strikes chlly chord.

The Istanbul attack is exactly what the new megahub airports and airlines of Turkey and the Middle East had hoped would never happen in a business where confidence is so crucial. Terrorist hits are the one thing that could derail their seemingly all conquering approach to establishing themselves as the new dominant force on routes between Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia. Conveniently situated close to midpoints between almost anywhere and anywhere else and able to exploit their 24/7 base operations they are able to grow and make profits where others fear to go, each route adding to the classic hub synergy of all the others at, thanks to the mix of  sector lengths required and high utilisation, costs way below those which could be achieved by airlines based towards the ends of the routes. Security has always been their biggest but unstated fear, and the most difficult to guarantee. Overnight it has become more urgent.