Turkish Airlines will have a new wave of Far East flights at its Istanbul Airport hub next year, according to Ahmet Olmustur, the carrier's Chief Marketing Officer. He was speaking at Routes World in Las Vegas. A wave comprises one bank of departures and one of arrivals and drives passenger and freight connectivity.

What's the present situation?

The vast majority of Turkish Airlines' Far East flights – to China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam – currently leave Istanbul between 01:30 and 02:50. They're fed by vast numbers of flights, particularly from across Europe.

They arrive in Asia late afternoon or early evening and leave for Turkey around midnight, coming home at 04:10-06:30 the next day. They then feed huge numbers of onward services.

There are other times too. For example, a limited number of Turkish Airlines flights depart for the Far East in the early evening (17:00-18:35) and mid-evening (20:30-21:15).

They arrive back midday or so the following day and, for some, in the late afternoon and early evening. From December, the carrier will return to Tokyo Narita, with flights leaving Istanbul at 14:55 and arriving back at 16:55 the next day.

Turkish Airlines Boeing 777-300ER
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

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What's happening next summer?

While the primary wave obviously remains, all departures in the early evening (17:00-18:35) have gone, likewise neatly all mid-evening (20:30-21:15). Instead, the second bank of departures will leave Istanbul at 15:45-16:35.

Currently, it involves flights to Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo Narita, but undoubtedly more routes will be added in time as it's beefed up. The following will run in a week in mid-June, showing how highly coordinated they are:

  • 15:45: Istanbul to Seoul (787-9, 4x weekly)
  • 15:50: Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur (787-9, 3x weekly)
  • 15:50: Istanbul to Tokyo Narita (787-9, 3x weekly)
  • 16:05: Istanbul to Jakarta (787-9, 2x weekly)
  • 16:10: Istanbul to Singapore (787-9, 3x weekly)
  • 16:35: Istanbul to Bangkok (A330-300, 1x daily)

They're all by the 787-9 or A330-300, among Turkish Airlines' lowest-capacity widebodies. In contrast, flights in the primary wave (leaving Turkey in the very early morning) are mainly by the B777-300ER, as it's a very established wave with far more sources of demand. It can therefore fill bigger aircraft – including with more freight.

Turkish-Airlines-Far-East-waves-of-flights-1
Image: OAG.

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But why is it needed?

At Routes World, Olmustur said, "we need to deepen our [existing] markets and market share rather than just adding more routes."

He said this involved "optimizing our network to provide shorter connections across the world." As many websites prioritize flights by duration, this is an important way of growing competitiveness.

Olmustur added that:

"For example, the flight from Singapore arrives at 05:35 [next summer]. Aircraft leave for Europe, but there's often not great connections from Europe when they come back. We want to change this and the Far East is key."

Analyzing schedules shows that not many places in Northern Europe correspond to this. They're too far away and arrive home too late to feed the 15:35-16:35 departures. However, routes from Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe do. For airports farther away, like London Heathrow, Paris CDG, and Brussels, the new Far East wave will be fed by aircraft that overnighted at those places.

What do you make of it all? Let us know what you think in the comments.

  • 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