Turkish Airlines launches Boeing 787 flights between Singapore and Melbourne

Turkish Airlines is moving ever closer to realizing its ambition to operate scheduled passenger flights to Australia, quietly achieving a major milestone in the process. Specifically, tickets for the second leg of the planned route from Istanbul Airport (IST) to Melbourne (MEL) via Singapore (SIN) will be available for the official launch of this exciting new route earlier today. Now you can make a reservation.

The story so far

The process to connect Turkey and Australia via Singapore began in September, when Turkish Airlines submitted an application to the Australian Transport Minister, as Simple Flying reported at the time. It had requested permission to operate regular flights to both Melbourne and Sydney airports, with a view to operating five flights a week.

Three months later, the airline announced plans for a marketing campaign related to the new route to Australia, with actor Margot Robbie as a high-profile brand ambassador. Just a few days later, Simple Flying reported that Turkish Airlines had received an early Christmas present in the form of government approval to fly to Australia, including a fifth freedom right that would allow it to make a stopover.

Image: Boeing

But even at that point, it was unclear whether the Istanbul-based Star Alliance member would choose Melbourne or Sydney as its first destination in Australia. Nevertheless, this became clear earlier this year, with a short post on the airline’s investor relations website confirming Melbourne’s selection. Ahmet Borat, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Turkish Airlines, said:

“We are very pleased to add Melbourne as the 346th destination to our airline network. (…) Turkish Airlines offers Australians award-winning service quality and an unparalleled aviation network. We are happy to be here and look forward to strengthening our presence.”We are committed to serving this great country by increasing the frequency and number of destinations we fly to in the coming years.” I would like to do so. ”

Fifth Freedom Airlines launches flight between Melbourne and Singapore

The airline was originally aiming to begin operating flights to Australia between March 15 and 25 this year, but Turkish Airlines’ booking website now appears to have confirmed the exact start date. As spotted by astute Simple Flying reader YK Tan, you can now book flights between Singapore and Melbourne from March 16th.

These flights are scheduled to depart Singapore at 10:20 local time and arrive in Melbourne at 20:40, giving a block time of 7 hours and 20 minutes, taking into account the time difference. The airline has chosen to fly Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners on this route, using a two-class layout.

related

Flight Review: Turkish Airlines Boeing 787-9 Business Class from Istanbul to Dubai

The transition between the two global hubs was smooth.

Image: Turkish Airlines

After the first rotation on Saturday, March 16, Turkish Airlines will initially operate three weekly flights between Singapore and Melbourne, departing on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, according to its booking website. However, Dj’s Aviation says this will switch to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

According to aeroLOPA data, the two-class Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft that Turkish Airlines has chosen to deploy on this route can accommodate 300 passengers. The first 30 of these are in a business class cabin with 30 flatbeds in a 1-2-1 configuration. Meanwhile, the remaining 270 seats make up the economy class section in a standard 3-3-3 layout.

competitive market

Of course, the main purpose of Turkish Airlines’ Singapore-Melbourne flight is to facilitate long-distance travel from its Istanbul hub to Australia. However, it will be interesting to see whether there is much demand for fifth freedoms just between Singapore and Melbourne. It’s a busy corridor, and aviation analytics firm Cirium lists Emirates, Jetstar, Qantas, Scoot and Singapore Airlines as participating companies.

What do you think about this news? Have you ever flown on Turkish Airlines’ Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!