Some people celebrate success at work with a drink or a meal at their favourite restaurant.

But for a group of workers in Turkey their decision to sacrifice a camel to mark a job well done could end up costing them their jobs.

Turkish Airlines was furious to discover that some of its maintenance staff had slaughtered the beast at Istanbul airport and distributed about 700 kilos (1,540 pounds) of camel meat among themselves.

The workers pitched in to buy the camel to celebrate the long-awaited dispatch to Britain of the last of eleven RJ100 aircraft which the airline has decided to leave out of its own fleet following a series of accidents.

Their actions came to light when several newspapers ran the story along with photographs of the camel being led into the airport grounds and of workers holding up bloody pieces of meat after the sacrifice.

Turkish Airlines, which was accepted last week into the Lufthansa-led Star Alliance, said in a brief statement that it had temporarily suspended the head of the maintenance department while an investigation takes place.

Vedat Muftuoglu, the Ataturk Airport manager, said that although the staff involved had apologised, disciplinary action would be taken.

"No one should do such a thing just because an airliner has rid itself of some aircraft," he told the Anatolia news agency.

In Turkey, it is a widespread practice to sacrifice animals to mark a happy event or the accomplishment of a difficult task.

Sheep and cattle are the more usual kind of animal to be sacrificed but on special occasions such as the end of the Hajj some Muslims eat roast camel.

Camels may also be slaughtered, along with other animals, during the annual Muslim festival called the Festival of the Sacrifice, which falls in early January.

The sacrifices commemorate the story of Abraham and his son, where Allah tested him by telling him to slaughter his child before allowing him to sacrifice a ram instead.

Fully-grown camels can cost up to US$1000.