Turkish Airlines announces flights to Melbourne

Turkish Airlines is set to begin flights to Melbourne this year, although a previously-proposed timeline of late March 2024 has yet to be set in stone.

The Star Alliance member has talked up both Sydney and Melbourne as starters for the 19-hour flights from Istanbul to Australia, which would make a stopover in Singapore; however, Melbourne has long been considered the front-runner and also hosted a media conference held in July 2023 with visiting chairman Ahmet Bolat.

But the decision appears to have been made, at least according to a short note now published on the Turkish Airlines Investor Relations website advising “Our Incorporation decided to start operating scheduled flights, based on market conditions, to Melbourne in Australia.”

Melbourne Airport’s aviation boss Jim Parashos tells Executive Traveller “there’s a very good reason why top international airlines such as Emirates and Qatar have chosen Melbourne as their first Australian destination, and we look forward to Turkish Airlines joining that list.”

“We believe we have made a compelling case for Melbourne, and we continue to work with Turkish Airlines to facilitate the launch of services to Australia.”

Turkish Airlines has been approached by Executive Traveller for comment, but at the time of writing has declined to comment further.

This of course doesn’t rule out the addition of Sydney to the TK network map, especially since Australian government in December approved a total of 21 flights per week – tripling the previous allocation of seven flights per week between Australia and Türkiye – with immediate effect.

This covers not only Sydney and Melbourne but also Brisbane, Perth and the new Western Sydney airport opening in 2026, with room for further growth to 28 flights per week from October 2024 and 35 per week from October 2025.

Istanbul to Melbourne, via Singapore

But another wrinkle still remains in Turkish Airlines’ plans to launch Istanbul-Melbourne and Istanbul-Sydney flights via Singapore: the ability to sell a single leg of this route, such as Istanbul-Singapore or Melbourne-Singapore, under what the aviation industry terms a ‘fifth freedom right’.

Current fifth freedom flights from Australia include the Sydney-Singapore-London routes of Qantas and British Airways, Emirates’ Melbourne-Singapore-Dubai service and Qantas’ Sydney-Auckland-New York service.

While the Australian government will permit “fifth freedom traffic rights at two (2) intermediate points of choice in South Asia, South East Asia and/or the Middle East,” a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore tells Executive Traveller that Turkish Airlines has not yet asked Singapore for the necessary approval.

“Airlines must obtain regulatory approvals before the (fifth freedom) flights can be operated,” says Sidney Koh, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore’s Director (Air Transport).

“CAAS has not received any application from Turkish Airlines to operate 5th freedom services between Singapore and Australia.”

This doesn’t prevent Turkish Airlines from making the necessary stopover in Singapore, at least until its new ultra-long range Airbus A350-1000 jets can fly directly between Australia and Türkiye.

However, it does prevent Turkish Airlines selling tickets on the Istanbul-Singapore and Singapore-Melbourne legs of the globe-striding route: something chairman Bolat has previously described as “really a crucial factor” for the Australian route.

A recent “preliminary schedule” to Turkish Airlines’ timetable – captured by the AeroRoutes website, which monitors airline schedule and network changes – may have tipped what those Istanbul-Singapore-Melbourne flights will look like.

The airline briefly listed a new flight TK154 departing Istanbul at 4.30pm, to reach Singapore at 7.50am the following day, but with the return leg (badged as TK155) not leaving Singapore’s Changi Airport until 4.10am the day after that.

Perhaps this is the flight which will continue to Melbourne during the interim?

At the same time, while Bolat has repeatedly cited Singapore as his desired stopover for flights to and from Australia, there remains the possibility that another airport in Asia, such as Bangkok, might serve the same purpose.

Non-stop flights to follow…

Turkish Airlines last month signed a blockbuster airplane order worth more than US$40 billion at sticker price for 220 Airbus jets – with options for over 100 more – includes 60 A350-900s and 15 A350-1000s.

The A350-1000 forms the basis for Qantas’ planned non-stop marathons connecting Sydney and Melbourne to London and New York, albeit with modifications such as an additional fuel tank and a weight-saving ‘premium-heavy’ seating configuration compared to standard A350-1000 jets in order to travel the 17,000km between Sydney/Melbourne and London.

However, the 15,000km distance between Sydney/Melbourne and Istanbul falls within the range of the standard A350-1000, especially since Airbus recently boosted the twinjet’s scope to almost 16,500km.

Bolat said those jets would also fly to South American destinations such as Santiago and Bueno Aires.

Set for take-off in March 2024?

“We will commence flights to Australia between March 15 and 25, 2024,” Turkish Airlines chairman Bolat told local media outlet Hürriyet Daily News in December.

Speaking with Executive Traveller on his visit to Australia in July 2023, Bolat said “we are working on three flights per week via Singapore using our Boeing 787s for this journey.”

Turkish Airlines intends to ramp up the frequency from three to five flights per week, and eventually daily flights to both Sydney and Melbourne “is our strategic target,” Bolat remaked at the time.

Bolat’s ambition to connect Istanbul and Australia is a long-held one, noting the airline “carried 120,837 passengers in 2019 and 118,847 passengers in 2022 with airlines with codeshare agreements from Australia, where we do not have direct flights yet.”

Bolat also suggested to Hürriyet Daily News that Aussie actress Margot Robbie might become the new face of the Star Alliance carrier, in a move timed to capitalise the start of Australian flights.

“We are currently in discussions with Australian actress Margot Robbie. We plan to bring her to Türkiye a week before the flight and explore various places, including the historic site of Göbeklitepe.”

After star turns in everything from dramas Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and The Wolf of Wall Street to the Suicide Squad superhero franchise and this year’s smash hit Barbie, Queensland-born Robbie’s profile has never been higher.

Previous global advertising campaigns from Turkish Airlines have featufred brand ambassadors such as sportsmen Kobe Bryant and Lionel Messi and actors Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman.

The Turkish Airlines experience

Turkish Airlines is held in high regard by business class travellers, with one highlight of the journey being “restaurant quality” gourmet meals prepared by the airline’s signature Flying Chefs – and yes, they’re actual chefs, not cabin crew wearing a fancy hat.

Turkish Airlines’ Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s each have flatbed business class seats in the same design as Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A350 and Boeing 787-10 ‘regional business class’.

These seats are arranged 1-2-1 to provide privacy and direct aisle access for every passenger, with an 18-inch video screen plus free inflight WiFi.

Turkish Airlines already has daily flights to Singapore, where it uses Changi Airport’s Terminal 1 – the same terminal as used by Qantas and Emirates, among others.

During that Singapore stopover, business class passengers, Elite and Elite Plus members of the airline’s Miles&Smiles reward program and their Star Alliance Gold siblings will break their journey at T1’s SATS Lounge.

The long leg between Singapore and Istanbul will take around 11 hours, with a total Melbourne-Istanbul or Sydney-Istanbul travel time of around 21 hours including the Singapore stopover.

From Istanbul, of course, scores of convenient TK connections spear out across Europe, the UK and Africa.

For stopovers at Türkiye’s impressive new Istanbul Airport between six and 24 hours, the airline offers two free packages for exploring the sprawling city, which straddles both Europe and Asia on either side of the Bosporus: a choice between eight city tours, and a more comprehensive Stopover in Istanbul program including a complimentary stay of up to two nights in a five-star hotel.

Bolat also says business class passengers from Australia will be offered a free domestic return flight to the historic city of Karahan Tepe, in the country’s south-east, best known for ongoing archeological digs.

Turkish Airlines’ Istanbul Airport hub features two stunning lounges – one for business class travellers, the other for frequent flyers holding Elite and Elite Plus status in Turkish Airlines’ Miles&Smiles program (and their Star Alliance Gold equivalents).

Top-tier frequent flyers with Qantas, Emirates, Etihad Airways and any member of the Oneworld and SkyTeam alliances can apply for a Turkish Airlines’ Miles&Smiles status match to obtain up to 12 months as a Miles&Smiles Elite tier member, unlocking practical perks such as lounge access, a higher checked luggage allowance and the use of priority lanes at Istanbul Airport.

Read more: How to get a Turkish Airlines Star Alliance status match