Inside the Ambitious Expansion: This Long-Haul Airline's 28 Daily Flights Across the US and Canada

Turkish Airlines ranks as the fifth-largest foreign long-haul airline serving the US and Canada based on July flights. As a member of the Star Alliance, the airline had plans to operate up to 28 daily departures to the two North American nations, but due to the pandemic, frequencies have fallen compared to previous plans. However, despite the cuts, the airline’s record for daily services until 2025 was 26. These figures are based on a full schedule examination using OAG data.

Comparison with the Big Three Middle Eastern airlines (Emirates, Etihad Airways, and Qatar Airways) shows that they will have up to 42 daily departures in July. However, unlike Turkish Airlines, the combined offering of the trio has decreased from a high of 43 flights last year.

Turkish Airlines’ Operations in the US and Canada in July

Photo: GCMap

Turkish Airlines has been serving Canada for 16 years, but all three routes (Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver) are still operated on a sub-daily basis. This is due to the lack of traffic rights, which is a common problem faced by many carriers, especially those that rely heavily on transit passengers rather than local ones.

To overcome this restriction, the airline could partner with Air Canada, which could use the Canadian half of the traffic rights that are currently being used. This would allow them to effectively fly to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines’ behalf. The airline has a similar setup with other airlines, notably with IndiGo on 531-seat Boeing 777-300ERs leased from Turkish Airlines. However, since Air Canada already has a partnership with Emirates for flights to Dubai, it is unlikely that this partnership will materialize. Meanwhile, Virgin Australia now operates flights to Doha on behalf of Qatar Airways.

July Departures

Istanbul Operations in July

Mainly four daily*

New York JFK (777-300ER, 787-9*, A330-300, A350-900)

17 weekly

Chicago O’Hare (777-300ER, 787-9) and Los Angeles (777-300ER, 787-9)

Double daily

Miami (777-300ER, 787-9) and Washington Dulles (777-300ER, 787-9)

11 weekly

San Francisco (A350-900)

10 weekly

Atlanta (777-300ER*, 787-9), Dallas/Fort Worth (787-9), and Houston Intercontinental (777-300ER, 787-9)

9 weekly

Seattle (A350-900, 787-9*)

Daily

Boston (A350-900), Detroit (777-300ER*, 787-9), and Newark (A350-900)

Six weekly

Toronto (777-300ER)

Five weekly

Denver (A350-900)

Three weekly

Montreal (787-9) and Vancouver (777-300ER)

* Three daily on

Inside the Ambitious Expansion: This Long-Haul Airline’s 28 Daily Flights Across the US and Canada