Turkish Airlines delays non-stop Sydney, Melbourne flights to 2027

Turkish Airlines has joined Qantas in delaying the launch of non-stop flights between Sydney and Europe, with both carriers now waiting on Airbus to begin delivering their long-range A350-1000 jets.

The flag-carrier of Türkiye has confirmed it’s running a year behind on direct Sydney-Istanbul flights, which it previously promised from late 2026.

That timeline has now been reset to “the end” of 2027, with Melbourne-Istanbul now on the cards for sometime in 2028. 

Both flights will rely on customised versions of the A350-1000 which will carry fewer passengers than usual, and skew the mix in favour of premium seats.

This ‘premium-heavy’ configuration reduces the aircraft’s overall weight to help extend its range, while keeping revenue high due to a higher number of business class seats.

The A350s designed for Istanbul-Sydney

“By the end of '27, we will start direct flights with this specially-designed A350-1000 aircraft.” Turkish Airlines chairman Murat Seker told SimpleFlying on the sidelines of an aviation industry conference in Rio de Janeiro earlier this month.

Seker said these A350-1000s would have 66 business class seats using the airline’s new Crystal Suite design – a near-40% increase on the 48 suites of the standard A350-1000s.

Based on the same Safran Unity platform as the Qantas A350s and Riyadh Airlines’ Boeing 787s, the Crystal suites are framed by high walls and sliding privacy doors.

Tech-friendly touches such as wireless charging, AC and high-power USB-C outlets are all on deck, with Bluetooth audio streamed from the 22” screen to passengers’ own noise-cancelling headphones or earbuds.

The A350s will also see the debut of Turkish Airlines’ new premium economy cabin – although at the same airline conference, Seker confusingly said premium economy would be introduced on the Airbus A350s “at the beginning of 2028.”

The first of 15 A350-1000s are due to be handed over to Turkish Airlines in mid-2027, Seker said, with eight of these being configured for 17-hour non-stop treks to Sydney and Melbourne.

These will skip the current stopovers at Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, respectively, saving travellers five hours from start to finish.

The distance between Istanbul and Australia’s east coast means Turkish Airlines won’t need the unique ‘ultra-long range’ version of the A350-1000 ordered by Qantas, which is fitted with an additional fuel tank to extend its range up to 22 hours.

However, Seker admitted “we have a challenge on the business side with the A350-1000s, which are going to be specially designed for that ultra-long distance.”

“We have agreed with Airbus on the design, but the economics of the aircraft in the long-haul… there are some still discussions going on with Airbus on that regard. But we want this nonstop, right? So there is still work in progress.”

Also read: What to expect from Turkish Airlines premium economy