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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
Turkish Airlines has 983 roundtrip flights at its Istanbul Airport hub on July 19th, 2022, according to OAG. That's two and a half times as many as Emirates at Dubai, nearly twice as many as British Airways at London Heathrow, and 61% more than Lufthansa at Frankfurt. It is helped by Turkish Airlines' high-frequency operation, huge domestic service, and serving 217 destinations globally on this day.
Turkish Airlines: July 19th
Turkish Airlines has 82% of all passenger flights at Istanbul Airport this day. It's a solid fortress hub, where an airline must control 70% or more of services. It is significantly more dominant than Lufthansa at Frankfurt (61%), KLM at Amsterdam (55%), Iberia at Madrid (39%) – and even Qatar Airways at Doha (81%). It's nearly the same as American Airlines at Dallas Fort Worth (83%). And this is before alliance partners are added.
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Where does it fly?
Turkish Airlines' Istanbul Airport operation is broken down as follows. As you'd expect, Europe is its core market, with nearly four in every ten flights. It serves 51 airports across Western Europe, with an average of nearly three daily flights. Paris CDG has seven daily flights, more than any other Europe route.
There are also some 20 airports across Central and Eastern Europe. If it does order large regional jets, expect more, thinner destinations to be added, subject to bilateral restrictions.
Close behind is its domestic network. It links its Istanbul Airport hub with 39 Turkish cities and an average of four daily flights. Nine routes – Antalya, Izmir, Bodrum, Ankara, Adana, Trabzon, Kayseri, Dalaman, Gaziantep – are responsible for well over half of its domestic operation. They're good not just for local traffic but also to feed passengers over its hub. Antalya has 16 flights, its leading route.
|
July 19th: Istanbul Airport to... |
Destinations |
% of Turkish Airlines' Istanbul Airport flights |
|---|---|---|
|
Europe and Caucasus |
71 |
38% |
|
Domestic Turkey |
39 |
32% |
|
Middle East |
22 |
10% |
|
Africa |
36 |
8% |
|
Asia |
29 |
7% |
|
North America |
13 |
4% |
|
South and Central America |
7 |
1% |
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The A321 rules
Turkish Airlines' Istanbul Airport hub aircraft use is summarized below. Narrowbodies have three-quarters of flights, with the MAX (both the 8 and 9) fairly quickly establishing itself. But it is, of course, very much about the A321, with 94 routes seeing it, led by Antalya, Munich, and Milan with four flights each. The 2,322-mile (3,736km) link to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, is its longest A321 service today; it has flights leaving Istanbul at 01:05, 17:15, and 21:15.
|
Aircraft |
Flights: July 19th |
% of flights |
|---|---|---|
|
A321ceo/neo |
346 |
35% |
|
B737-800 |
182 |
19% |
|
B737 MAX 8 |
100 |
10% |
|
A330-300 |
82 |
8% |
|
B777-300ER |
75 |
8% |
|
A330-200 |
50 |
5% |
|
A320 |
43 |
4% |
|
B737-900ER |
42 |
4% |
|
B787-9 |
29 |
3% |
|
A350-900 |
19 |
2% |
|
A319 |
11 |
1% |
|
B737 MAX 9 |
4 |
<1% |
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Ex-Aeroflot A350-900s
Notice the A350-900, one of five widebody types/variants. Turkish Airlines' own A350s have 329 seats, while its ex-Aeroflot examples have 316. Today, its 316-seaters are used to Baku (01:45) and Dhaka (18:35). A third route, Tashkent (01:05 departure), was to see it, but it was substituted for the A330-300, Turkish Airlines' leading widebody.
Will you be flying to/from Istanbul Airport this summer? If so, where will you be going? Let us know in the comments.