According to reports published in the Turkish media on January 18, 2025, Turkish Airlines, one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing international carriers, is eyeing Auckland in New Zealand as well as Minneapolis in the US as the next global cities to receive regular passenger flights from the airline’s iGA Istanbul Airport (IST) hub.

According to a report on the Turkish language website Turizm ekonomi, at a recent Turkish Airlines Management Summit 2025 held in Antalya (Turkey), the airline’s chairman Ahmet Bolat announced the company’s plans to launch services to Minneapolis in April or May of 2025, and later to Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island. The airline started fights between Melbourne and Sydney in Australia and Istanbul (via Singapore) in 2024 and adding New Zealand to its growing list of airports in the region would seem to make a logical next progression of expansion in the South Pacific.    

Under a 2010 bilateral air services agreement, New Zealand-based airlines can serve any point in Turkey (via any intermediate point) and beyond to any other point. Turkey-based airlines enjoy reciprocal rights. Despite this, Air New Zealand does not currently operate flights to any airport in Turkey, a point that Turkish Airlines will be keen to exploit. It is understood that all flights would operate visa Singapore initially.

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