Turkish Airlines
plans to serve 278+ passenger destinations from its fast-growing Istanbul Airport hub. On September 12, the latest addition—Sydney—was finally announced, although it had been a long time coming.
The very long route will take off on December 4. Unlike Melbourne flights, which stop in Singapore, Sydney flights will stop in Kuala Lumpur. More exciting and significant is that Sydney is expected to be served non-stop by Turkish Airlines’ to-be-delivered higher-weight A350-1000s in winter 2026.
Turkish Airlines’ five longest routes
They are shown below. As the Star Alliance member continues to add to its network and push geographic boundaries, the list has seen various changes recently. The longest and third-longest services are new and have not been launched yet—they will be in my weekly jam-packed routes newsletter—while the second-longest service started earlier this year.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Only one-stop flights made the cut. None of the non-stop legs were sufficiently long to be featured, nor was Istanbul to Los Angeles, Turkish Airlines’ longest North American service. You might be wondering about Istanbul-Bogota-Panama City. It fell short of inclusion at ‘only’ 6,205 nautical miles (11,492 km).
The longest routes from December 2024
|
Nautical miles (km) |
Route |
Comments |
|---|---|---|
|
8,082 (14,968) |
Istanbul-Kuala Lumpur-Sydney |
Brand-new. Begins December 4; four times weekly A350-900. It does not appear to have fifth freedom traffic rights, but that may change. The 777-300ER usually operates the first flight for dignitaries, journalists, etc. Click here to fly! |
|
7,940 (14,705) |
Istanbul-Singapore-Melbourne |
Started in March 2024. Operates three times weekly on the A350-900. Fifth freedom |
|
7,108 (13,164) |
Istanbul-São Paulo-Santiago |
Brand-new. Begins December 18; four times weekly A350-900. It was on the carrier’s ‘targeted destinations’ list for ages. Fifth freedom |
|
6,854 (12,693) |
Istanbul-Mexico City-Cancun |
Operates 11 times weekly on the 787-9 (hence the photo at the start) and 777-300ER. It runs triangularly: Istanbul-Mexico City-Cancun-Istanbul. Obviously, it has no traffic rights (cabotage) on the domestic Mexican sector. It stops in Cancun partly because of Mexico City’s hot-and-high conditions, which reduces aircraft take-off performance on long routes with heavy loads. Stopping means it can carry more payload and be more viable |
|
6,624 (12,267) |
Istanbul-São Paulo-Buenos Aires |
Operates daily on the A350-900. Fifth freedom |
A look at Santiago de Chile
In July 2024, Turkish Airlines’ intention to fly to Chile was revealed in the public disclosure area of its investor relations website, where the carrier must legally disclose coming routes. In September, flights were officially announced. While it appeared that the very long route would start on December 12, it will now take off on December 18.
Where will passengers go?
As with Turkish Airlines’ Buenos Aires operation, many people will probably fly the carrier from Santiago de Chile to Asia. Booking data shows that Santiago-Tokyo was the largest city-level origin and destination in 2023.
The other top 15 cities—on a mix of continents—were Shanghai, Tel Aviv, Athens, Seoul, Hong Kong, Beijing, Dubai, Manila, Bangkok, Warsaw, Johannesburg, Delhi, Prague, and Cairo. Not all places connect competitively in both directions.
Image: GCMap
What is the schedule?
It is as follows, with all times local. It will take a fun 19h 10m to reach Chile and 17h 40m back to Türkiye (including the stop in Brazil). Of course, most passengers will be flying elsewhere. Those flying from Tokyo, the largest market, will have a convenient 2h 30m stop in Istanbul en route to South America, pushing the trip to 35h+. There is a 4h stop on the way back to Asia.
- Istanbul-São Paulo: TK215, 20:35-04:15+1 (13h 40m)
- São Paulo-Santiago: TK215, 05:50-09:45 (3h 55m)
- Santiago-São Paulo: TK216, 11:40-15:15 (3h 35m)
- São Paulo-Istanbul: TK216, 16:50-11:20+1 (12h 30m)