Turkish Airlines Australian Services

[Mwenenzi]

SYD airport newsroom

Sydney Airport welcomes Turkish Airlines and Australia’s first non-stop flights to Istanbul

__Thursday 12 September 2024__ - Turkish Airlines to launch inaugural Sydney service in December 2024 - Sydney Airport will also be the first airport in Australia to host non-stop services - With four flights per week, Sydney Airport will be Turkish

www.sydneyairport.com.au

• Turkish Airlines to launch inaugural Sydney service in December 2024
• Sydney Airport will also be the first airport in Australia to host non-stop services
• With four flights per week, Sydney Airport will be Turkish Airlines’ largest port in Australia
• Turkish Airlines is the eighth new airline to join the airport in the last two years

Sydney Airport has today announced Turkish Airlines will join the airport’s network of 50 airlines, with direct flights via Malaysia commencing four times per week from 5 December 2024, ahead of an Australian-first non-stop service from Sydney to Istanbul.

From 5 December 2024, the four direct services a week from Sydney to Istanbul via Kuala Lumpur will be operated on an A350-900 with 329 seats available onboard: 32 in Business Class and 297 in Economy Class. This service will go on to become a non-stop service to Istanbul, opening a fast and convenient route to Türkiye, one of the world’s most captivating destinations.

This groundbreaking service will revolutionise travel between Australia and Europe, providing passengers with a swift and seamless connection to Istanbul, where travellers can then access a network of more than 340 destinations across 130 countries on a one-stop itinerary, courtesy of Turkish Airlines' expansive global hub. Turkish Airlines also serves 110 European destinations, more than any other airline in the world.
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“The NSW Government has worked closely with Sydney Airport and Turkish Airlines to secure this new service. Sydney is the gateway to Australia and supporting this new route holds enormous potential for the growth of the state’s visitor economy.”

Airport spin "This groundbreaking service will revolutionise travel between Australia and Europe, providing passengers with a swift and seamless connection". Do they not realise there are several other airlines offering a 1 transit connection to EU?

Does "NSW Government has worked closely with Sydney Airport" mean tax payer subsidy? But open and transparent is not the NSW state way.

A map from the Great Circle Mapper

A map from the Great Circle Mapper

www.gcmap.com

 

[yachty]

Two hour Transit outbound through KUL - is the airport even functioning at that time of night? Haven't been to KUL since Covid.

Functioning-ish... there's a few 24h establishments going again and a handful of departures around that time. The timing over is terrible, but always happy to have more daytime Asia-Aus flights.

 

[Saab34]

Fares have been super competitively priced for the MEL-SIN leg so I’d expect some pain here for D7. Would be very hard to opt for D7 if you want luggage added in, pricing would nearly align.

 

[AFF Editor]

Please continue the discussion of the new TK flights to Sydney here:

Turkish Airlines Sydney-Istanbul flights via Kuala Lumpur

TK launching SYD via KUL

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[elanshin]

TK is going to be a huge step change for the Aus-Europe market, I am looking forward to what they plan to offer in the decades ahead.

Let’s hope the market backs them, but I have no doubt the IST directs will be successful.

There's a solid Turkish community so IST direct probably has demand.

 

[RooFlyer]

via KUL? not SIN?

SIN flight originates in MEL

 

[RooFlyer]

TK is going to be a huge step change for the Aus-Europe market, I am looking forward to what they plan to offer in the decades ahead.

Let’s hope the market backs them, but I have no doubt the IST directs will be successful.

Agree, although the MEL flights via SIN have had disappointing reviews so far. I'm holding off on them until they hopefully learn the market a bit more.

 

[Mattg]

Most SYD-IST flights seem to have 2x J award seats available. Also 5x Y award seats.

 

[Melburnian1]

Does "NSW Government has worked closely with Sydney Airport" mean tax payer subsidy? But open and transparent is not the NSW state way.

Given most states (exception: WA) have high budget deficits (Victoria worst, then Queensland, but NSW and Tasmania catching up, SA I am unclear on), it's high time state governments stopped subsidising international flights for any airline.

Governments always talk about '$150 million in value annually from flight X coming to (name your airport)' and sure, airlines spend money on maintenance, staff (even if contracted), hotels, catering and other expenses but fact is, more Australians holiday overseas than foreigners do so here, uni student numbers studying here are about to be further cut and VFR and business markets are also weighted in favour of Australians travelling overseas rather than individuals coming here.

We never see state governments publicising the termination of flights that were subsidised but it happens.

These flights should survive, thrive or fail according to the market.

Post automatically merged: Sep 12, 2024

Most SYD-IST flights seem to have 2x J award seats available. Also 5x Y award seats.

Generosity knows no bounds!

 

[Melburnian1]

Agree, although the MEL flights via SIN have had disappointing reviews so far. I'm holding off on them until they hopefully learn the market a bit more.

@RooFlyer , I had a quick look but couldn't see any negative reviews on YouTube (at least from the headlines and summaries.

Could you please post a link to one?

 

[RooFlyer]

@RooFlyer , I had a quick look but couldn't see any negative reviews on YouTube (at least from the headlines and summaries.

Could you please post a link to one?

A couple here on AFF (the only reviews worth looking at!). I'll have a look to see if I can retrieve.

 

[elanshin]

@RooFlyer , I had a quick look but couldn't see any negative reviews on YouTube (at least from the headlines and summaries.

Could you please post a link to one?

I dont think there's many "bad" reviews but I did remember hearing Dan & Alex on their podcast a few weeks back where they were quick fire answering say that they both felt TK was "overrated" but still a solid product.

 

[HS-TQE]

TK (and more broader Star Alliance) desperately need a partner in Australia!

TK has an interline with the QF/JQ group.

They were in discussions with ZL, but that went nowhere and is now unlikely since ZL 1.0 went into administration. I would guess TK is very hesitant to approach VA 2.0 due to their close relations and equity discussions with QR (and as evidenced by TK approaching ZL first instead of VA).

 

[Melburnian1]

The flights are loaded but zeroed out at the moment... operating days out of SYD are Sun, Tue, Thu, Fri.

TK174 (359) IST 1515 KUL 0620+1 (. Mon . Wed Thu . Sat)
TK174 (359) KUL 0740 SYD 1830 (Sun . Tue . Thu Fri .)

TK175 (359) SYD 2040 KUL 0155+1 (Sun . Tue . Thu Fri .)
TK175 (359) KUL 0355 IST 1015 (. Mon . Wed . Fri Sat)

Is 80 minutes in KUL southeast bound sufficient?

Most international flights seem to need at least 105 and preferably 120 minutes minimum at these intermediate stops.

It'll be interesting to see how often the southbound runs late. TK's punctuality in and out of MEL hasn't been terrific.

 

[elanshin]

Is 80 minutes in KUL southeast bound sufficient?

Most international flights seem to need at least 105 and preferably 120 minutes minimum at these intermediate stops.

It'll be interesting to see how often the southbound runs late. TK's punctuality in and out of MEL hasn't been terrific.

I'd imagine if you were transiting onto other flights then you'd be very nervous. However given that this is well... the same plane I dont think you need to worry about that.

 

[IrishPete]

They are certainly cheap (economy class) to European destinations, but the indirect flights and poor connections aren't very attractive.

But hopefully this will drive down prices on the airlines that do offer more-direct flights and to the destinations I want!

$1500 return to Barcelona or Amsterdam in January is pretty good. With 8kg cabin bag and 30kg check-in allowance.

 

[clementine6]

TK launching SYD via KUL

WHat? These flights have been operating all year. We took TK via KL to Istanbul in April

 

[9171]

Have only flown TK on inter-country medium -length business flights in the European theatre. The planes were old at the time (ten years ago), but the soft product was glorious. I hope they have lifted their hard product game, and if they can introduce yet another competitor to Australia-Europe, fantastic.

 

[MELso]

WHat? These flights have been operating all year. We took TK via KL to Istanbul in April

You'll have been on a codeshare to KUL as TK only fly their own metal to MEL via SIN to IST (until December anyway).

 

[moa999]

Ugly arrival time in KUL for those just looking to go there.
KLIA shuts 0000-0500 or thereabouts