Turkish Airlines has pushed back the relaunch of Istanbul Airport to Kabul and Mombasa from the end of March to the end of October, according to its latest schedule filing. This is the latest as of February 13th.

Turkish Airlines to Kabul

The Star Alliance carrier has served Kabul from Istanbul, some 2,237 miles (3,601 km) away, since July 2011. After the Taliban took back control of Afghanistan in mid-2021, most foreign airlines – including Turkish Airlines – stopped serving the country. The Turkish flag carrier was bookable to return to the Afghan capital on March 27th, in less than two months. Now it won't.

The latest schedule filing shows that it'll now take off on October 30th. The 151-seat 737-800 is due to operate; they have 16 business seats and 135 in economy. It'll be the first time since 2017 that the route has seen a narrowbody. Usually, it is by the A330-200/A330-300. Operating daily, the schedule is as follows, with all times local.

  • Istanbul Airport to Kabul: TK706, 01:05-07:25 (4h 50m block time)
  • Kabul to Istanbul Airport: TK707, 08:55-12:50 (5h 25m)

Click here for Istanbul-Kabul flights.

Turkish Airlines Kabul
Image: GCMap.

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Turkish Airlines to Mombasa

The Kenyan port city of Mombasa is one of two airports in the country to usually see Turkish Airlines' passenger flights. It launched Mombasa in 2012 when it routed triangularly: Istanbul-Kilimanjaro-Mombasa-Istanbul. Since 2016, it has been supplemented by non-stop so-called terminator flights: Istanbul-Mombasa-Istanbul. It became fully non-stop in both directions in 2019.

The 3,192-mile (5,137 km) Istanbul-Mombasa route – longer in distance than Dublin to New York JFK and Badr Airlines' coming Khartoum-London Gatwick – was to return on March 26th. However, it is now scheduled for the October 29th. Like Kabul, it is down to see the 737-800. Operating four weekly, it is scheduled as follows, with all times local:

  • Istanbul Airport to Mombasa: TK573, 20:25-03:30+1 (7h 5m block time)
  • Mombasa to Istanbul Airport: TK574, 04:20-11:30 (7h 10m)

Click here for Istanbul-Mombasa flights.

Turkish Airlines MAX 8
(OK, this is a MAX, but it's a great photo.)
Photo: Anna Zvereva via Flickr.

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95% of passengers transited Istanbul

In pre-pandemic 2019, when Turkish Airlines served Mombasa served non-stop, flights varied from five weekly to daily. According to OAG information, the route had 83,000 roundtrip seats for sale. Booking data suggests it carried just over 75,000 passengers for an average seat load factor of 91%.

Of the ~75,000, 95% (!) transited Istanbul Airport. Approximately 36% of Turkish Airlines' Mombasa passengers were to/from Germany, then Italy (21%; no wonder they call an area near Mombasa 'Little Italy'), the UK (7%), France (5%), Switzerland (5%), Austria (4%), Netherlands (4%), Denmark (3%), Czech Republic (3%), and Belgium (2%), These 10 countries had about 9 in 10 Mombasa passengers.

Click here for Milan-Mombasa flights.

Turkish Airlines Mombasa top 10 origins and destinations in 2019
(Turkish Airlines' top 10 Mombasa origins and destinations in 2019. TXL (Berlin Tegel) no longer exists.)
Image: GCMap.

The map above shows Turkish Airlines' top 10 Mombasa origins and destinations in 2019. It carried more Munich-Mombasa passengers, over Istanbul, than anywhere else, according to booking data. In order of passengers, the rest of the top 10 markets were Düsseldorf, Berlin, Bologna, Milan Malpensa, Rome Fiumicino, Venice, London Heathrow, Amsterdam, and Zurich.

Turkish Airlines carried approximately 27% of Mombasa passengers from these 10 European airports. It had more than any other carrier, although Ethiopian was close behind.

Click here for Munich-Mombasa flights.

  • Turkish Airlines A330
    Turkish Airlines
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    TK/THY
    Airline Type:
    Full Service Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Istanbul Airport
    Year Founded:
    1933
    Alliance:
    Star Alliance
    CEO:
    Bilal Ekşi
    Country:
    Turkey