Australians may soon be able to fly Turkish Airlines all the way from Melbourne to Istanbul, with a thrice-weekly connection via Singapore expected to launch from December this year.
Turkish Airlines, or commonly referred to as “Turkish Hairlines”, because there are sooooo many patients are seen on Turkish Airlines flights returning home wearing post-operative headbands after undergoing a hair transplant in Turkey- are gearing up to commence direct flights to Melbourne later this year!
Turkish Airlines are aiming to extend its reach to it’s sixth continent as Australia as the expansion of Turkey’s Medical Tourism Industry reaches our nations shore.
Starting with Melbourne then Sydney the direct service looks like a layout in Singapore is on the cards. Turkish Airlines chair Ahmet Bolat said, “At the beginning, it [will not be] such an excellent service – only three times weekly and with a stop in Singapore”, he said speaking on the sidelines of the recent International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual general meeting in Istanbul, the Aviation Week reported.
Eventually, Turkish wants to operate a daily Istanbul-Melbourne service, said Bolat, with daily nonstop flights to Sydney. Bolat added that “Melbourne seems to offer … more advantages regarding [the] local Turkish population – the catchment area is big, and not so many airlines are flying there”.
Utilising its Boeing 787-9 aircraft, the three-times-weekly service will kick off in December 2023.
Daily flights to Sydney could be on cards in several years’ time, while Perth and Brisbane are also in consideration.
Flights would initially rely on the Boeing 787, though Bolat hopes to skip Singapore altogether, launching non-stop Istanbul-Melbourne and Istanbul-Sydney flights using a forthcoming order of ultra-long range jets.
He said the national carrier would be “looking very much to attract tourists on our route.”
A Melbourne Airport spokesperson “continues to work closely with Turkish Airlines to bring to fruition the airlines’ ambition to commence services to Australia”.
Prices start at $1,316 round trip and $952 one way…..
