Turkish Airlines has revealed plans to commence flights between Istanbul and Sydney by the end of 2024. The carrier will operate one-stop flights between the Turkish city and Sydney’s Kingsford-Smith International Airport (SYD) from December 2024 with services operating via Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. However, direct flights are expected to replace these services when the carrier receives its first Airbus A350-1000 in 2026, the airline has said.
The addition of Sydney services follows the introduction of Turkish Airlines’ first flights to Australia when it began flights between Istanbul and Melbourne in March 2024 using Boeing 777-300ERs on the route. These flights now operate six times per week using the carrier’s latest Airbus A350-900s via Singapore.
The Australian government granted Turkish Airlines fifth freedom rights to operate to the country in late 2023, allowing the carrier up to 35 weekly services to Australia initially with Middle East or South-East Asian stopovers as part of the deal.
The addition of flights between Istanbul and Sydney comes amid a seemingly relentless pursuit by Turkish Airlines to operate to as many of the world’s leading cities as it can in as short a time as it can. The airline already connects Melbourne to 110 European destinations via Istanbul, surpassing any other airline.
Melbourne became Turkish Airlines’ 346th overall destination upon the commencement of flights and Australia its 130th country served. The airline is currently the only European carrier that operates flights to and from Melbourne.
Although the Sydney and Melbourne flights will continue to operate via Kuala Lumpur and Singapore respectively for the time being, the airline hopes that by 2026 it will have persuaded the Australian government to ditch the condition of operating via a third country and allow nonstop direct flights between Turkey and Australia. This would coincide with the arrival of the carrier’s first Airbus A350-1000 ultra-long-haul widebodies which it sees as well-suited for routes such as those to Australia.
Following a massive order placed with Airbus in December 2023 which featured an order for 50 A350-900s and 15 A350-1000s, the airline is currently in the process of selecting the most appropriate routes for the larger variant, with Sydney thought to be very high on that list.