Turkish Airlines is launching direct flights between Denver International Airport and Istanbul Airport. There has been a lot of chatter on Twitter/X around this and the flights have finally been loaded into the system.
As of June 11th, 2024, Turkish Airlines will begin operating on 4x weekly service (Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) with the following schedule:
TK 201 (IST-DEN) Depart: 1:55p Arrive: 5:40p Equip: Airbus A350
TK 202 (DEN-IST) Depart: 7:35p Arrive: 4:25p (+1) Equip: Airbus A350
The flight covers a distance of 6,129 miles and is blocked at 11h 50m Eastbound and 12h 45m Westbound. With the exception of the inaugural flight, Turkish will be operating the flights with a Airbus A350-900 featuring 329 Seats. The aircraft has 32 Business Class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration and 297 Economy seats in a 3-3-3 configuration.
Turkish Expansion Comes Amid Rapid Growth in Denver
While it is always exciting seeing an airline launch a new route, this one shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Fellow Star Alliance member United operates a massive hub at Denver International Airport and it has been growing like crazy over the last few years. The airline also didn’t keep it much of a secret as it listed Denver as a future destination in a recent investment proposal.
The addition of service by Turkish Airlines is a much awaited expansion of international routes at the airport. Despite the large United hub operation and Southwest focus city, the airport has a small number of international flights and primarily connects locations in the western United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Summary
Turkish Airlines will begin flying from Denver to Istanbul 4x weekly using an Airbus A350 aircraft. This is an exciting new addition for an airport that has been growing rapidly, albeit with mostly domestic traffic. United’s large hub operation should help provide feed for this flight which will help its chance for long term success.
