Negotiating bilateral air rights is a government-to-government affair that often works in mysterious ways. Last year, Qatar Airways had its bid to fly more services to major Australian airports rejected by the Australian government and yet, at about the same time, Turkish Airlines was granted more rights than it had asked for, along with the right to carry passengers between Australia and Singapore. The Chairman's vision is now real Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee Ahmet Bolat spearheaded the negotiations , steadfastly pursuing the rights to operate daily flights from Istanbul to Melbourne and Sydney.
The Melbourne service started in March, and on Friday, November 29, 2024, the first flight from Istanbul to Sydney via Kuala Lumpur arrived. On November 28, Turkish Airlines flight TK174 departed Istanbul Airport (IST) at 14:01 and, after a 9:54-hour flight, arrived in Malaysia, landing at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) at 04:54. The flight was operated with a 2017 Boeing 777-300ER, registration TC-LJK and MSN 60402, that departed KUL at 07:09 on Friday and flew for 8:09 hours before landing at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) at 18:18 on Friday.
Turkish Airlines (Turkish) operates the Istanbul—Sydney services four times weekly, with flights arriving and departing Sydney on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. As it did in Melbourne, Turkish is using the Boeing 777-300ER for the first few flights to accommodate dignitaries and g.