Turkish Airlines (THY): Sydney to be its second Australia destination; nonstops to follow
Turkish Airlines (THY) is to add Sydney as a second destination in Australia, starting on 4-Dec-2024, just over nine months after launching flights to Melbourne.
It will deploy A350-900 aircraft on its four times weekly service to Sydney from its Istanbul hub, via a stopover in Kuala Lumpur.
Melbourne is served three times weekly via Singapore, also with the A350-900.
THY will join British Airways as only the second European airline serving Sydney, but it will have two destinations in Australia to British Airways' one.
THY has also earmarked Sydney to be its first nonstop destination in the future, but without saying exactly when. This will likely only happen after its Airbus A350-1000 deliveries start in 2028, allowing Qantas to be the first nonstop operator between Europe and Australia when it receives the same aircraft in 2026.
After many years of unrealised plans to add Australia to its network, THY is making a considerable impact on the Europe-Australia market in 2024.
- THY's Melbourne launch followed many years of unrealised plans to serve Australia.
- From Dec-2024 THY will serve Australia daily: 3x weekly to Melbourne and 4x weekly to Sydney.
- THY will operate nonstop to Sydney when it has the right aircraft.
- The airline already has A350-900s and 787-9s with enough range, but it favours higher seat densities.
- It considered the 777X and the A350-1000 before choosing the A350-1000, which Qatar Airways and Qantas have also chosen for very long routes.
THY's Melbourne launch followed many years of unrealised plans to serve Australia
THY's addition of Melbourne to its network in Mar-2024 followed years of not quite adding Australia to its network.
THY planned an Istanbul-Jakarta-Sydney service as long ago as 2011, and subsequently came close to launching services to Australia, with a stopover in Asia, several times.
In 2013 it was expected to be operating a nonstop Sydney service within three years - likely with 777-300ERs for this route.
None of these plans came to fruition, as the airline prioritised the development of a network based on its Istanbul hub.
Following discussions in northern summer 2023 its plans started to gel, and it aimed to launch Melbourne flights before the end of 2023. However, it only applied to the Australian government for permission in Sep-2023.
In Dec-2023 Australia's Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts approved THY to operate 21 times weekly to the major cities of Australia - namely Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
THY's service to Melbourne Tullamarine Airport finally launched on 2-Mar-2024.
The airport said that its new European customer contributed to its achieving record international traffic for the month of Mar-2024: its 923,000 international passengers were 28% more than in the same month of 2023.
From Dec-2024 THY will serve Australia daily: 3x weekly to Melbourne and 4x weekly to Sydney
Soon after its Melbourne launch, THY's chairman Ahmet Bolat said that it could launch Sydney flights before the end of 2024, subject to fleet availability.
This prediction is now coming true.
Following the Sydney launch in Dec-2024, THY will have daily flights to Australia: three times weekly to Melbourne and four times weekly to Sydney.
In Jul-2024 Mr Bolat raised the possibility that THY could have daily flights to both destinations in two years.
THY will operate nonstop to Sydney when it has the right aircraft
At the same time, Mr Bolat also flagged the airline's aim to operate nonstop services to Australia.
However, he raised some doubts about the appeal of such long flights: "Sometimes a one-stop is more preferable than 17 hours non-stop - we will have both products".
The only nonstop flights between Australia and Europe are currently offered by Qantas, but on slightly shorter routes.
The Australian airline launched a daily Perth-London Heathrow service in Mar-2018, and added a three times weekly Perth-Paris CDG service in Jul-2024.
THY has now committed to direct flights to Sydney, but has not yet specified a time frame for this plan.
Speaking on 12-Sep2024, Mr Bolat said that nonstops to Sydney would start when THY had received the aircraft capable of making the journey in a single leg.
It already has A350-900s and 787-9s with the range for nonstop Istanbul to Australia flights…
However, THY already has widebodies with the range to serve Australia nonstop from Istanbul.
Based on information on its website, its longest range aircraft currently are the A350-900 (15,700 km) and the 787-9 (14,140 km).
Turkish Airlines: passenger widebody fleet ranked by maximum range
|
Aircraft |
Maximum range (km) |
|---|---|
|
15,700 |
|
|
14,140 |
|
|
13,400 |
|
|
Boeing 777-300ER |
12,000 |
|
11,750 |
Istanbul to Melbourne is 14,640 km and would last 17 hours and 42 minutes, according to airmilescalculator.com (using the great circle distance).
Istanbul to Sydney nonstop is 14,972 km and would take 18 hours and 6 minutes, according to the same source.
These routes are within the range of the A350-900 and could be reached with the 787-9 in the reduced seat configurations used by some airlines.
They are only a little further than Qantas' service between Perth and London, a distance of 14,499 km, lasting 16 hours and 45 minutes and served with Boeing 787-9 aircraft (source: OAG).
THY's planned Australia routes are shorter than the current longest commercial route in the world, operated by Singapore Airlines from Singapore to New York JFK.
This route is 15,332 km and lasts 18 hours and 40 minutes, and is served with A350-900s (source: OAG).
…but THY favours higher seat densities than rivals use with these aircraft on very long routes
Although it has aircraft capable of flying nonstop to Australia, THY favours higher seat densities than Qantas and Singapore Airlines on their longest routes.
Singapore Airlines deploys a 262-seat A350-900 on its New York JFK service, while THY has 325 seats on this aircraft type.
Qantas configures its 787-9 with 236 seats for the Perth-London route, while THY fits 300 seats into this type.
THY considered the 777X and the A350-1000…
The airline has been waiting for new aircraft before launching nonstops to Australia; the most likely candidates being the 777X or A350-1000.
The 777-8 variant will have a range of 16,170km, more than enough for Istanbul to Australia nonstops, and the 777-9 will have a range of 13,492 km.
According to the CAPA - Centre for Aviation Fleet Database, 777-8s that are currently on order with other airlines will have seat capacity of 328 to 354 seats.
However, the 777X delivery schedule has slipped many times.
The first variant to enter commercial service, the 777-9, is now not expected before 2026.
The longer-range 777-8 is not expected to be delivered before 2029 (and other airlines are ahead of THY in the queue).
…before choosing the A350-1000, which it will receive from 2028…
In Dec-2023 THY made a decision in favour of the A350-1000, which has the range for Sydney nonstops with a cabin density that the airline likes. Of course, it can also be used on a variety of other routes.
The A350-1000 has been in service since 2018, and has a range of 16,100 km (in a typical three-class configuration, with up to 410 seats).
THY has 15 A350-1000 passenger aircraft on order, each with 329 seats (in addition to five freighter versions).
According to the CAPA - Centre for Aviation Fleet Database, deliveries are due between 2028 and 2032.
…and which has also been chosen by Qatar Airways and Qantas for very long routes
The A350-1000 already has a track record of operating routes of similar distances to the nonstop Australia services planned by THY.
Qatar Airways deploys the variant with 327 seats on its 14,526 km Doha-Auckland route.
Qantas has ordered A350-1000s with a lower density configuration of 238 seats to extend its range to 18,000 km. Deliveries are due between 2026 and 2031.
It will deploy the aircraft for its 'Project Sunrise' routes of 19-20 hours, including Sydney to London.
THY could reconfigure A350-900s if it wanted to launch Sydney nonstops before Qantas
Qantas does not currently fly direct between Europe and Australia's east coast, as it awaits its A350-1000 deliveries from 2026.
If THY wanted to start nonstops to Sydney before Qantas, and before its A350-1000 deliveries start to arrive in 2028, it could choose to configure one or more A350-900 with a lower seat density.
It also has 67 more A350-900s due to be delivered between now and 2031, to add to its existing 23 of the variant.
Turkish Airlines is making a big impact on Europe-Australia
Europe to Australia is a market in which connections via Gulf hubs - with Emirates Airline, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways - have played an important part.
With the exception of British Airways' daily 787-9 Sydney service via Singapore, European flag carrier airlines reach Australia only through codeshare partners in the Gulf and Asia.
THY's Istanbul hub is directly linked to more destinations than any of its rivals' hubs.
Its entry into Australia offers a vast range of connections in both directions via Istanbul, although they are currently two stop connections (through Singapore and Kuala Lumpur).
The addition of nonstops to Sydney will allow THY to offer more international one-stop connections to/from Australia than any competitor.
After considerably more than a decade of almost, but not quite, adding Australia to its network, THY is making a significant impact on the Europe-Australia market in 2024.