Turkish Airlines deal opens new doors to Europe
Turkish Airlines will dramatically increase options for Australian travellers bound for European cities, analysts say, capitalising on open skies agreements beyond the reach of Middle Eastern competitors and Qantas.
After the federal government handed Turkey a five-fold increase in traffic rights and gave Vietnam permission to double its flights by 2025, Analytic Flying predicted Turkish Airlines would gain a “significant comparative advantage over Qatar, Emirates and Etihad”.
Turkish Airlines will look at non-stop flights from 2026.
“[Turkish Airlines’] Istanbul hub is located somewhat closer to Europe, allowing connections to a larger number of secondary cities at higher frequencies by utilising narrow body aircraft on these sectors,” the independent aviation consultant said.
Turkish Airlines is yet to officially announce when it will begin flying to Australia, but its chairman, Ahmet Bolat, told The Australian Financial Review in June it was considering a non-stop flight to Istanbul from Melbourne and Sydney.
“With this introduction of our services, one stop in Singapore for refuelling only, we believe that’s … a little inferior than the [non-stop] flight,” he said at the time.
Turkish Airlines had been hoping to count Australia as its 130th market before the end of 2023, but long delays getting approval for the additional air rights have pushed this back. Mr Bolat told Turkish media the airline now wants to start flying in March.
He said Turkish Airlines would consider buying the ultra-long haul planes currently on order from Airbus for Qantas: the A350-1000 with specially fitted fuel tanks to make the stretch to London Heathrow or New York.
“We are waiting for this aircraft also to be a little bit more advanced in terms of the engine,” he said, adding that the new A350 might not be available until 2026.
“One thing is clear, we will use the [Boeing] 787 or the A350, we will not fly the 777.”
Qantas is counting on adding $400 million a year to its earnings by charging passengers a 30 per cent premium for non-stop travel to London, New York and Paris when it starts taking delivery of the new aircraft by the end of 2025.
Unlike its vocal opposition to Qatar Airways’ expansion plans, Qantas did not object to Turkish Airlines’ request, which will see it initially fly to Istanbul via Singapore. The route would be less appealing for business travellers, Mr Bolat conceded.
Last week, Turkish Airlines, which is a top 10 airline globally by seat capacity and kilometres flown, placed an order for 220 new planes with Airbus, including 15 A350-1000s, taking its total planes on order to more than 500 as it reinforces Istanbul’s position as a global aviation hub.
Analytic Flying said the new airport in Istanbul had given airlines a major boost over Australian airlines operating in and out of comparatively restricted airport infrastructure, which limits competition among carriers.
“They’ve opened a new runway, terminal building and unlocked capacity just three or four years ago in Istanbul, where they went from a three-runway airport where really they could only use two simultaneously, and went and built a new airport which straight off the bat has five runways,” the consultancy said,
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