Turkish Airlines' US network currently comprises 10 destinations from Istanbul. Ordered by total available seats this year, these are JFK, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Washington, Houston, Boston, Atlanta, and Newark. And an 11th destination will start on September 24th: Dallas. However, it is Chicago – Turkish’s second-largest US market – that is the focus of this article, a destination it has served for nearly a quarter of a century.

Chicago has been served for 24 years

Turkish Airlines began Istanbul Ataturk to Chicago O'Hare in 1997, a year in which the full-service airline's US network comprised two destinations: O'Hare and JFK.

For the first 11 years, Chicago was served only by the A340-300, with the twinjet A330-200 making an appearance in 2008 and then the B777-300ER in 2009, Cirium data shows. The route was operated solely by the A330-200 between 2013 and 2015, before the Airbus widebody and the B777-300ER operated alongside each other.

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Chicago was B777-only in 2018 and 2019, but then COVID hit. Since 2020, Chicago has seen the A330-300, A350-900, and B787-9, although the 349-seat B777 remained dominant. However, this will change from November, with the route served only by the A350 – at least during the winter. This will cut about 6% of seats per departure, helping with offseason pricing and stronger low season load factors.

Istanbul to Chicago
When writing this article, TK5 is en route from Istanbul to Chicago. It leaves at 14:15 and arrives in the US at 17:40. Returning, it departs Chicago at 21:35 and arrives back at 16:05 the next day (all times local). Image: RadarBox.com.

Chicago had a 92% seat load factor in 2019

Since 1997, Turkish Airlines has carried some 2.9 million passengers to/from Chicago, analyzing the USA's Department of Transportation's T-100 dataset reveals. In 2019, Chicago achieved a seat load factor (SLF) of 92.1%, the highest of any US destination.

This 92.1% was decently above the 80% it recorded in 2015. This reason: passenger volume rose much quicker (+20%) than capacity (+9%), necessarily increasing SLF. While I do not have fare data from 2015, booking data shows that Turkish Airlines' average fare from O'Hare to Istanbul increased by 30% between 2016 and 2019, while it rose by one-quarter to destinations over Istanbul. This would make sense given far less capacity was added versus passenger volume.

  1. Chicago: 92.1%
  2. Washington: 91.7%
  3. San Francisco: 90.3%
  4. Los Angeles: 89.2%
  5. JFK: 89.1%
  6. Houston: 88.5%
  7. Boston 88.4%
  8. Miami: 85.7%
  9. Atlanta: 79.9%
Turkish Airlines B777-300ERTurkish Airlines B777-300ERTurkish Airlines B777-300ER
As is always the case, SLF is just one element of route performance. Do not read too much into it on its own. Photo: Thomas Boon - Simple Flying.

61% of Chicago passengers transited Istanbul

In 2019, Turkish Airlines carried approximately 234,000 round-trip passengers to/from Chicago. Of these, the vast bulk – about six in ten passengers – connected over the carrier's Istanbul hub. About 4.5 times more passengers transited than were point-to-point, for instance, only traveling between Chicago and Istanbul.

Booking data indicates that the largest transit regional market was between Chicago and Central/Eastern Europe (CEE), as shown below. Key here were Ukraine, Serbia, North Macedonia, Romania, and Moldova, requiring far less backtracking than other, more northerly countries in CEE. Turkish Airlines' hub is geographically well suited to capture this demand, especially as it often serves many destinations more frequently than other network carriers.

  • Central/Eastern Europe
  • Middle East
  • Western Europe
  • South Asia
  • North Africa
  • Central Asia
  • Eastern Africa
Turkish Airlines B777-300ER

Turkish Airlines' largest nations from Chicago

While CEE was the largest regional market, only marginally ahead of the Middle East, Turkey was the country with the most transit passengers, especially thanks to its capital, Ankara. Turkey was followed by Israel, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Greece. While South Asia remains important, it is in an entirely different league from Emirates and Qatar Airways.

Turkish Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner TC-LLM (3)
The B787-9 made its first appearance at O'Hare in 2020. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

Tel Aviv was number-one

On an airport-pair basis, Turkish Airlines' top origins and destinations were led by Tel Aviv. Reaching Tel Aviv via Istanbul adds just 0.28% to the total distance. The Turkish carrier was the largest foreign airline for carrying the most Tel Aviv transit passengers to/from Chicago.

  1. Chicago over Istanbul to Tel Aviv
  2. Chicago-Karachi
  3. Chicago-Athens
  4. Chicago-Ankara
  5. Chicago-Jeddah
  6. Chicago-Lahore
  7. Chicago-Skopje
  8. Chicago-Chișinău
  9. Chicago-Mumbai
  10. Chicago-Cairo

Have you flown Turkish Airlines long-haul? If so, share your experiences with us in the comments.