Turkish Airlines
plans a record 170 weekly one-way passenger flights from its 
Istanbul Airport
hub to the US next summer, an average of 24 daily services. Frequencies will be up from a high of 160 weekly in summer 2024 (+6%).
Despite only joining the Star Alliance carrier’s network in June 2024, Denver flights recently increased to daily. Los Angeles rose to a record 17 weekly, the same frequency that Chicago O’Hare will now be served. It is unclear when Orlando, disclosed as coming, will join its route map.
Related
Turkish Airlines Will Fly Daily Between Istanbul & Denver Next Summer
TK also plans to announce a number of new US routes in the new year.
Chicago: 17 weekly flights
Chicago O’Hare
has been part of Turkish Airlines’ passenger network since 1997. OAG information shows that, until now, the record had been double daily.
As recorded by Aeroroutes, the latest information shows it will be 17 weekly from July 2025 until at least October 25, shortly before the airline switches to winter schedules like other northern operators.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
The enhanced schedule is as follows, with all times local. The additional frequencies are shown in bold, leaving Turkey in the evening. Turkish Airlines is boosting its evening flights to the US, with that departure bank now having flights to New York JFK, Newark, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
- Istanbul-Chicago: 06:30-09:50 (787-9; daily), 14:20-17:55 (777-300ER; daily), 18:45-22:00 (787-9; three times weekly)
- Chicago-Istanbul: 11:35-05:45+1 (787-9; daily), 19:50-14:40+1 (777-300ER; daily), 23:45-18:05+1 (787-9; three times weekly)
Turkish Airlines is reportedly due to receive three more 300-seat 787-9s in 2025.
Image: OAG
In the year to July 2024, more than 270,000 Chicago passengers transferred to another flight in Istanbul. Athens was the most popular market, followed by Jeddah, Karachi, Medina, Cairo, Bishkek (!), Amman, Sofia, Mumbai, and Beirut.
Los Angeles: 17 weekly flights
While Los Angeles’
frequency increase was disclosed towards the start of November, it remains a noteworthy development. Like Chicago, flights have not previously been above double daily but will become 17 weekly in July 2025. The new schedule will be as follows, with all times local:
- Istanbul-Los Angeles: 08:00-11:45 (777-300ER/787-9; daily), 14:00-17:55 (777-300ER; daily), 18:35-22:20 (787-9; three times weekly)
- Los Angeles-Istanbul: 00:05-23:20 (787-9; three times weekly), 13:40-12:55+1 (777-300ER/787-9; daily), 19:50-19:05+1 (777-300ER; daily)
Photo: On The Run Photo I Shutterstock
More than 280,000 passengers connected to another Turkish Airlines flight. Unsurprisingly, Tehran was the most popular Los Angeles origin and destination, followed by Cairo, Beirut, Athens, Delhi, Jeddah, Mumbai, Rome, Amman, and Moscow Vnukovo.
Image: GCMap
What’s happening with Denver?
Despite the first Istanbul to Denver
flight only lifting off on June 11, 2024, the 5,326 nautical mile (6,864 km) route will be served daily next summer.
While the route started with a three times weekly operation (a standard frequency for a new long-haul service), it quickly rose to four times a week. Despite A350 delivery delays, it will become daily in June 2025, 12 months after the route began.
The schedule will be as follows, with all times local. Unsurprisingly, flights will leave Turkey amid Turkish Airlines’ primary US-bound bank:
- Istanbul-Denver: 14:20-18:10 (12h 50m)
- Denver-Istanbul: 20:05-16:50+1 (11h 45m)
Photo: JetKat | Shutterstock
Filled 76% of available seats
According to the US Department of Transportation T-100 data for June-August 2024, Turkish Airlines carried 20,600 roundtrip Istanbul-Denver passengers, filling 76% of seats.
Given it was only the first three months of service, this was a decent result, influenced by the peak season. Of course, the load factor says nothing about fares and yields, but given it was the peak period, they should have been good.
Photo: Kevin Hackert | Shutterstock
More than three in four people connected to another Turkish Airlines flight in Istanbul. While individual origins and destinations had relatively low traffic figures, Delhi was the top market; the carrier quickly became the second-largest operator in this market.
Cairo was next, followed by Mumbai, Addis Ababa (Denver has a large Ethiopian population, hence Ethiopian Airlines wants to fly there), Nairobi, Athens, Amman, Baghdad, Ercan, and Tehran.