Turkish Airlines flights to Sydney, Melbourne “in a very short time”
Ultra-long range Airbus A350s will eventually connect Istanbul to Australia with direct flights.

Turkish Airlines says it could begin flights to both Sydney and Melbourne in early 2024, counter to previous plans to establish daily flights to one city before expanding to the other.
“We are allowed to have seven flights a week (to Australia),” Turkish Airlines chairman Ahmet Bolat told media in Istanbul during a briefing this week.
“We need to finalize the procedures, which may take a few more weeks. We may launch flights to Sydney and Melbourne in a very short time.”
Plans for a December 2023 start to those flights were scuppered by delays in the Australian Government responding to the carrier’s application.
Bolat also confirmed discussions with Airbus for the purchase of as many as 355 aircraft to be delivered across 2026-2036.
That blockbuster order is tipped to include up to 100 long-range Airbus A350 jets, with 15 of the A350-1000 variant which could deliver non-stop flights from Istanbul to Sydney and Melbourne.
The A350-1000 forms the basis for Qantas’ planned non-stop marathons connecting Sydney and Melbourne to London and New York, albeit with modifications such as an additional fuel tank and a weight-saving ‘premium-heavy’ seating configuration compared to standard A350-1000 jets in order to travel the 17,000km between Sydney/Melbourne and London.
However, the 15,000km distance between Sydney/Melbourne and Istanbul falls within the range of the standard A350-1000, especially since Airbus recently boosted the twinjet’s scope to almost 16,500km.
Istanbul to Australia, via Singapore
Turkish Airlines’ first foray to Australia would involve a stopover in Singapore, with Bolat telling Executive Traveller on a visit to Australia in July this year “we are working on three flights per week via Singapore using our Boeing 787s for this journey.”
Turkish Airlines intends to ramp up the frequency from three to five flights per week, and eventually daily flights to both Sydney and Melbourne “is our strategic target,” Bolat says.
Bolat also said the airline will seek ‘fifth freedom rights’ to sell the Singapore-Australia leg on its own, describing that as “really a crucial factor” for the route.
However, the Star Alliance member eventually hopes to skip Singapore in favour of non-stop Istanbul-Australia flights, with Bolat revealing “our main goal is to fly directly to both Sydney and Melbourne every day, with the production of a new generation of ultra-long-range aircraft.”

At the time, Bolat said Turkish Airlines was looking at an order of “10 to 15” such aircraft, which would also fly to South American destinations such as Santiago and Bueno Aires.
“It’s five years if it’s the A350, if it’s the 777 it’ll take seven years to mature,” he predicted – and now the ‘A or B’ decision appears to have been made in favour of the Airbus A350-1000, although those globe-spanning flights wouldn’t take wing until the end of this decade at the earliest.
Bolat says his ambition to connect Istanbul and Australia is a long-held one, noting the airline “carried 120,837 passengers in 2019 and 118,847 passengers in 2022 with airlines with codeshare agreements from Australia, where we do not have direct flights yet.”
Turkish Airlines 787 business class
Turkish Airlines’ Boeing 787s each have 30 flatbed business class seats in the same design as Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A350 and Boeing 787-10 ‘regional business class’.
Turkish Airlines already has daily flights to Singapore, where it uses Changi Airport’s Terminal 1 – the same terminal as used by Qantas and Emirates, among others.
During that Singapore stopover, business class passengers, Elite and Elite Plus members of the airline’s Miles&Smiles reward program and their Star Alliance Gold siblings will break their journey at T1’s SATS Lounge.
The long leg between Singapore and Istanbul will take around 11 hours, with a total Melbourne-Istanbul or Sydney-Istanbul travel time of 21 hours including the Singapore stopover.
From Istanbul, of course, scores of convenient TK connections spear out across Europe, the UK and Africa.
For stopovers at Türkiye’s impressive new Istanbul Airport between six and 24 hours, the airline offers two free packages for exploring the sprawling city, which straddles both Europe and Asia on either side of the Bosporus: a choice between eight city tours, and a more comprehensive Stopover in Istanbul program including a complimentary stay of up to two nights in a five-star hotel.
Bolat also says business class passengers from Australia will be offered a free domestic return flight to the historic city of Karahan Tepe, in the country’s south-east, best known for ongoing archeological digs.
The Turkish Airlines experience
Turkish Airlines is held in high regard by business class travellers, with one highlight of the journey being “restaurant quality” gourmet meals prepared by the airline’s signature Flying Chefs – and yes, they’re actual chefs, not cabin crew wearing a fancy hat.
The airline’s Boeing 787 flatbed business class seats are arranged 1-2-1 to provide privacy and direct aisle access for every passenger, with an 18-inch video screen plus free inflight WiFi.
Turkish Airlines’ Istanbul Airport hub features two stunning lounges – one for business class travellers, the other for frequent flyers holding Elite and Elite Plus status in Turkish Airlines’ Miles&Smiles program (and their Star Alliance Gold equivalents).
Top-tier frequent flyers with Qantas, Emirates, Etihad Airways and any member of the Oneworld and SkyTeam alliances can apply for a Turkish Airlines’ Miles&Smiles status match to obtain up to 12 months as a Miles&Smiles Elite tier member, unlocking practical perks such as lounge access, a higher checked luggage allowance and the use of priority lanes at Istanbul Airport.
Read more: How to get a Turkish Airlines Star Alliance status match
01 Nov 2023
Total posts 9
Hopefully, TK start flying sooner, rather than later. Such a quality airline and on board catering along with outstanding hard and soft product, wonderful airport experience and network makes it a wonderful option.
11 Sep 2015
Total posts 229
Bring it on, TK, first with flights via Singapore and then non-stop flights to & from Istanbul. Interesting to read the A350s now have a comfortable margin to handle those non-stop Sydney & Melbourne flights. I wonder if TK will bring back first class or even premium economy? First class probably isn't needed if business class is good enough, and with TK that's pretty much the case in terms of f&b and service, they just need proper business class suites like the Qsuite. But you'd have to think there would be a decent market for premium economy these days, especially on those l-o-n-g non-stop flights.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 Jun 2017
Total posts 41
Hopefully no issue getting Australian Government approval to land in Australia. The more competition the better and I would be more than happy to fly with them.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Jan 2018
Total posts 663
Ambitious of Turkish Airlines, as they'll be going head-to-head with Singapore Airlines on the MEL-IST and SYD-IST sectors.
16 Feb 2017
Total posts 28
So unclear as to why Turkish feel they'd be 'entitled' to have 5th freedom rights between AU and SG. A most valuable route - what's in it for Australia in terms of Turkish getting a piece of the action ?
01 Dec 2012
Total posts 46
What's in it for Australia? Try greater competition, more services, more product choice, cheaper airfares across classes.
16 Feb 2017
Total posts 28
In which case let's allow Turkish to also have unlimited Melbourne Sydney too ? Why stop there. How about Istanbul - Sydney - Haneda, and Istanbul - Sydney - LAX while they're at it. Would tick all same boxes.
03 Feb 2022
Total posts 1
HI ...WHAT GREAT NEWS......we always fly TK IST to TLS as we live in SW France...sooooo convenient ...and NO CDG!!!...and no need for a bcn flight and issues with cross border rental cars!!
15 Nov 2023
Total posts 1
Great to see a bit more competition but be prepared for a bit of angst with their website- very frustrating drop-outs without any explanation, particularly at payment page. On one occasion I had to try four different cards, and each time the booking aborted I had to go through the booking process again right from the start. Also there are limited options for connecting flights to IST from European cities on full service airlines, apart from TK of course.
22 Jan 2019
Total posts 9
They already do have approval for a daily flight, but not flights (7 v 14) which is what they want apparently. As of July no application to increase this number or any of the other approvals required had been received. So any issues ariound 5th freedom haven't formally been asked ( as of July anyway). The government 'scuppering' in December, seem to be self inflicted by premature PR.
https://australianaviation.com.au/2023/07/turkish-airlines-yet-to-apply-for-australian-flights-says-minister/
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 Aug 2023
Total posts 1
Great news. At the end of June 2024 we're flying TK business IST-BKK, then JQ "business" back home to MEL. Would be awesome if we could just take TK all the way - fingers crossed!
08 Jul 2015
Total posts 25
Is it just me or is this story/ release on regular rotation?
I seem to recall a few previous versions of their “ imminent” service commencement closely followed by another story of Govt approval or disapproval or some complication.
Hope they get to Aust eventually but I won’t hold my breath.
22 Sep 2017
Total posts 72
The seven flights to MEL and SYD might be a "triangle" route. Going the indirect way would still be better than the full SYD transit experience from domestic to international.
CX
16 May 2015
Total posts 20
I think the problem that TK face is the distance between IST, and MEL or SYD. It is further than AKL-DOH and the QATAR flight which is/was the world's longest. If TK stops in SIN then unless you are going to Turkey it will take longer to reach your destination than a one-stop middle eastern, Asian or N.American carrier. If you are going on to Europe you will have two stops on TK with a change in IST. TK has a good product and I enjoy flying them, but their IST hub is just too far for Australasian passengers.
Emirates Airlines - Skywards
19 Jul 2014
Total posts 29
Bring them on. More competition is urgently needed, TK is a well managed company with attention on clients, unlike Qantass.
03 May 2013
Total posts 667
Mediocre airline on the ground and hit n miss in the air, super crowded lounges. Positives, they have a proper J class recliner seat intra EU with good catering and also the competition factor out of Australia...may go some way in taming the outrageous Qantas premium fares a tad.
02 Jun 2013
Total posts 55
Based on latest Turkish Airlines schedule updates on the IST-SIN route for 2024, I think we can work out part of their new Australian schedule.
They have just published a 3x weekly additional A350 service with a suspiciously long layover in Singapore - enough time to get to somewhere in Australia and back.
If correct it will be a daytime flight SIN-Australia and overnight flight back - TK154/155, obviously connecting onwards to/from IST.
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