Turkish Airlines is on the brink of confirming its first-ever direct services to Australia, but a formal announcement on flights down under has been parked for now as the carrier waits to gain approval on more capacity from the federal government.
In June, Turkish Airlines all but confirmed it would commence flights to Melbourne later this year, saying the MEL service would operate “three times weekly and with a stop in Singapore”. Karryon readers subsequently expressed their excitement about the probable service.
Meanwhile, the Istanbul-based carrier held a glitzy gala event for 450 people at Crown Melbourne last week to build excitement around the service.
At the event, the flag carrier brought together prominent figures from the Australian and Turkish aviation sectors, along with representatives from the media and business community, to mark the imminent launch of non-stop flights to Australia and the burgeoning partnership between the two countries.
Sadly, it stopped short of formally announcing a start date on account of the government hold-up.
“There are some legal issues that we have to solve between the Turkish government and the Australian government, but today in the meeting, the [Melbourne Airport owner Asia Pacific Airports Corporation] mentioned that they are on the issue,” Turkish Airlines chairman Ahmet Bolat told the Australian Financial Times at the Melbourne event, at which TK was expected to confirm its Victorian flights.
More capacity please
While Turkish Airlines has the right to land four flights per week in Australia, Bolat said the airline wants air rights to 14 flights a week or daily services to Melbourne and Sydney.
The carrier would also need “fifth freedom” rights to fly to Australia to make it commercially viable. This would enable it to pick up and drop off passengers in Singapore.
“In the 42 hours [that it takes to fly to Australia and back], I can fly to Miami twice. I’m sorry to say that is more profitable than flying to Sydney and Melbourne,” Mr Bolat said, based on fifth freedoms being out of reach.
If and when Turkish Airlines does commence operations down under, it would be the only mainland European carrier to fly to Australia.
In a statement, Federal Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development Minister Catherine King said, “the Australian government continues to contribute to the prosperity and wellbeing of all Australians by fostering a viable, competitive and safe aviation industry”.
Last month, a Melbourne Airport spokesperson told Karryon MEL “continues to work closely with Turkish Airlines to bring to fruition the airlines’ ambition to commence services to Australia. Although talks are progressing, a final decision is yet to be made”.
Why fly here?
Speaking at the event in Melbourne, Bolat said “the warmth of the Australian people, the large number of Turkish people that have made these lands their home … as well as the Australian people’s desire to travel excite us at Turkish Airlines as we look to commence our flights to this beautiful country in the coming future”.
“We are eager to add Australia to our network and connect Australian people to the world with our award-winning service quality.”
