Turkish Airlines: daily Sydney-Istanbul flights

Turkish Airlines is boosting its flights between Sydney and Istanbul via Kuala Lumpur, ahead of launching non-stop flights in late 2026.

The current Sydney-Istanbul schedule of five flights per week will increase to six per week from late October, and then shift to a daily service across the Australian summer from mid-December 2025 to the start of February 2025, before throttling back to five flights per week.

All flights will continue to feature the Star Alliance member’s modern Airbus A350-900, while an extended-range A350-1000 will take on the non-stop flights in late 2026.

Direct Melbourne-Istanbul flights, also on the A350-1000, are expected to follow in 2027.

Those long-legged A350s will be redesigned with the 17-hour marathon in mind, with Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Eksi saying they “will be modified for the Australian routes” to include a substantially larger business class cabin featuring the also-new Crystal Business Class suites with high walls and sliding doors.

Turkish Airlines' A350-1000 Crystal Business Class.

Could Turkish Airlines add more Australian cities such as Brisbane to its network map?

While the airline can run as many as 35 flights per week to Australia from October 2025, Turkish Airlines Chairman Ahmet Bolat has previously told Executive Traveller “we are going to stick with Sydney and Melbourne,” adding “other cities (like) Perth and Brisbane are not on our list right now.”

Turkish Airlines A350 business class.

Beyond Istanbul and Türkiye, Turkish Airlines offers connections to more than 100 destinations across Europe alone.

Travellers breaking their journey in Istanbul can also take advantage of a complimentary city tour or a two-night stay in a five-star hotel if they’re booked in business class (or one night in a four-star hotel, if they hold an economy ticket).

Turkish Airlines A350 business class.

As part of its continued push into the Australian market, Turkish Airlines is targeting Qantas’ top-tier frequent flyers with a free status match from Qantas Platinum and Platinum One to Turkish Airlines’ Miles&Smiles Elite tier.

Of course, the Turkish Airlines status match also unlocks Star Alliance Gold status and perks across two dozen airlines including Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, Thai Airways and United Airlines.

Turkish Airlines A350 business class

Turkish Airline’ Airbus A350 flights feature 32 flatbed business class seats and 297 economy class recliners – although the airline has ruled out the return of its ‘Comfort Class’ premium economy, which was positioned closer to a being a ‘business lite’ proposition.

The curved high-walled business class pods have a pleasing degree of privacy, albeit without sliding doors.

Turkish Airlines A350 business class.

It’s actually the same model seat as Singapore Airlines’ medium-range regional business class seen on its Boeing 787-10s and some Airbus A350s.

Turkish Airlines A350 business class.

Finished in a dark colour scheme with hints of copper, these seats have all the mod cons you’d expect: AC/USB power, a decent degree of personal space, a ‘Do Not Disturb’ button, a handy mirror and a small cabinet for stowing everything from your Kindle or a small tablet to reading glasses, passport, and whatnot.

Turkish Airlines A350 business class.

Each Turkish Airlines business class seat fully reclines to a 1.9m lie-flat bed with an adequately-sized nook for your feet, as long as you prefer to sleep on your back rather than your side.

Turkish Airlines A350 business class.

A highlight of Turkish Airlines’ international business class experience are the meals, especially the ‘Flying Chefs’ program developed in partnership with Austrian catering colossus Do & Co.

Turkish Airlines A350 business class.

This sees trained chefs serving up true restaurant-grade fare above the clouds, with appetisers and desserts served from trolley to add to the sense of theatre; the drinks selection is capped by Taittinger Brut Reserve Champagne and four types of Scotch (up to a 15yo Glenfiddich Single Malt).

The 18” video screen packs a solid roster of movies plus live TV channels from BBC World News, CNN International, CNBC and Sport 24.

Business class passengers currently get 1GB of inflight Internet, with unlimited WiFi  for Miles&Smiles Elite and Elite Plus members; however, plans are underway to deliver free unlimited WiFi to all passengers from tip to tail.

Turkish Airlines A350 business class.

Also read: Turkish Airlines’ Qantas status match