Turkish Airlines flies to Melbourne for the first time

In early 2018, Turkish Airlines wanted to offer flights between Turkey and Australia. The first flight landed in Melbourne on Saturday evening.

The Australian government approved the expansion of Turkish Airlines flights to Australia to expand connections with Europe. After it was announced that the connection from Istanbul to Melbourne would start two weeks earlier than expected, the time has come this weekend. The first flight landed in Melbourne today Executive Traveller. Meanwhile, 21 flights per week have been approved by the Australian government. In addition to Sydney and Melbourne, the Star Alliance member also wants to fly to Brisbane, Perth and the new airport in Western Sydney, which is scheduled to open in 2026.

The first flight lands on Saturday evening

Around 8:40pm the time arrived and the first flight of the long awaited connection took off on Australian soil. After a 16-hour flight via Singapore, Turkish Airlines lands in Melbourne for the first time. Boeing 777 will be used in this first flight.

It's no wonder Turkish Airlines chose Melbourne as its first Australian destination, given our status as the country's largest Turkish community and capital of food, sport and culture.

Jim Parashos is Head of Aviation at Melbourne Airport

The flight type was changed again after a few days as the Boeing 777 did not offer the best comfort in business class due to its 2-3-2 configuration. A Boeing 787 will serve the new route from March 6. This type also exists in aircraft Turkish Airlines' new business class Installed in a 1-2-1 configuration. In the long term, direct flights will be operated with the Airbus A350-900XWB.

Our main goal is to fly direct to both Sydney and Melbourne, creating a new generation of ultra-long-haul flights.

Ahmed Bolat, President of Turkish Airlines

The airline will start with three weekly flights but plans to increase the flight frequency from three to five flights per week. The flight schedule of the aircraft is as follows:

Outbound flights on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

• TK 168 | Istanbul – Singapore| Departure: 5:30 PM. Arrival: Next day 8:50 AM
• TK 168 | Singapore – Melbourne| Departure: 10:20 AM. Arrival: 8:40 PM

Return flights every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

• TK 169 | Melbourne – Singapore| Departure: 10:30 PM. Arrival: 3:00 am next day
• TK 169 | Singapore – Istanbul| Departure: 4:30 AM, Arrival: 11:15 AM

Turkish Airlines Australia has these plans for connectivity

On 13 December 2023, the Air Transport Agreement between Australia and Turkey was renewed, allowing Turkish Airlines to commence flights to Australia. A week ago, the airline announced that it would be operating flights to Australia from March 2024. The airline can only provide a direct connection as part of a very long-haul flight that stops in Singapore. Fifth Freedom Flights to sell However, the approval is yet to be submitted to the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.

The new aviation deal will triple the requested connections between Turkey and Australia to seven weekly flights. It beat Turkish Airlines' application submitted to the Australian Department of Transport in September. Meanwhile, Turkey's largest airline has requested permission to start 14 weekly flights to Australia. The innovation will not only open the door to daily flights to Sydney and Melbourne for Turkish Airlines, but will also create room for further growth.

Turkish Airlines was originally scheduled to launch flights to Melbourne in December 2023. However, these plans could not be implemented due to delays on the part of the Australian government. There will be 28 weekly flights to Australia from October 2024 and 35 flights from October 2025.

An eventful time for Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines has announced several news recently. This is how she did it Turkish Airlines made a major purchase from aircraft manufacturer Airbus in mid-December. Turkish Airlines has ordered 220 aircraft, including 15 Airbus A350-1000s, to operate non-stop flights between Istanbul and Australia. The route between Sydney/Melbourne and Istanbul (15,000 kilometres) is within the range of the Airbus A350-1000, which has recently been increased to nearly 16,500 kilometres.

Istanbul-Melbourne flights start result

The time has come this weekend: the first Turkish Airlines flight took off from Istanbul to Melbourne. Landing is expected on Saturday evening. Turkish Airlines is on a growth trajectory as evidenced by recent developments. Turkish Airlines is gearing up for its upcoming expansion into Australia, with a significant number of passenger aircraft on Airbus. After years of waiting, Turkish Airlines has been given the go-ahead to start direct flights from Istanbul to Australia.