Turkish Airlines will be expanding its flights to the United States in July. The announcement from the airline comes just days after international flights were resumed to four destinations within the US. The carrier will expand its services to Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, and Washington DC to include Houston, New York, and San Fransisco.Stay informed: Sign up for our daily aviation news digest.

Turkish Airlines will fly to seven US cities in July

After facing several delays, Turkish Airlines finally resumed flying to the US last week following the grounding of flights due to COVID-19. We reported on Friday that Turkish Airlines would be reinstating flights to some US cities, flying 12 times a week to four destinations. The carrier has since announced that this will be expanding in July to include three further routes. This will increase the number of services to 24 a week during July.

The carrier will keep its thrice-weekly services to Chicago, Washington DC, and Miami until the end of July 2020. The route to Los Angeles will continue to fly three times a week until the end of June. From July 1st, this will increase to four times a week.

From July 1st, flights to New York will commence, with five flights offered per week. Three flights per week to San Francisco will follow on July 15th. Lastly, on July 26th, three flights to Houston will be added to the schedule.

Ramping up its schedule

As Turkey has now lifted all entry requirements and restrictions for foreign nationals, its national flag carrier is ramping up its services as it attempts to reinstate its global network. From July, the carrier will add Toronto and Montreal to its routes in North America. The airline will also finally launch scheduled flights to Vancouver in August, after a two-month delay. This new route will be its 15th destination in North America.

Aside from North America, Turkish Airlines is increasing flights to other international destinations during June and July. The number of domestic routes is also set to increase. Current plans show that during July, the airline plans to operate 40 domestic routes and fly to 123 international destinations. If these flights operate as planned, Turkish Airlines will be flying 80% of its pre-corona domestic schedule and 40% of its international routes.

Last week Turkish Airlines was reported as the busiest operator in Europe. Eurocontrol, an organization that supports European aviation, said that Turkish Airlines had 400 flights in the Eurocontrol area on June 18th. This was the first time that an airline has had this many planes in the area since March 24th.

Istanbul opens the third runway

Just days after international flights were allowed to resume in Turkey, the third runway was opened at Istanbul Airport. The central hub of the national carrier is now the second airport in Europe to operate three independent parallel runways. It is the latest development for the airport that hopes to be one of the busiest in Europe by the time it is finished.

This is good news for the national carrier which has appeared to cope well with the current pandemic. While the carrier has had to delay delivery of some of its new planes, it has been able to avoid laying off employees, at least for now. With its plan to increase its route over the next two months, maybe a return to normality is finally in sight.

Will you be flying to the US with Turkish Airlines in the near future? Let us know in the comments.