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Turkish Airlines to Connect Denver and Istanbul

The route will become the airport's longest to date.

A Turkish Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Katie Zera)

At a press conference today, Turkish Airlines announced a new nonstop service between Denver and Istanbul, beginning on June 11, 2024. This flight, scheduled at 6,130 miles, will be around 400 miles longer than the current longest flight from Denver, United’s nonstop flight to Tokyo.

The outbound flight from Denver to Istanbul departs at 7:35 p.m. and arrives at 4:15 p.m. local time. The return flight leaves Istanbul at 1:55 p.m. with a 5:40 p.m. arrival in Denver. The carrier’s Airbus A350-900 aircraft will operate the route thrice weekly.

Economic Impact

The new service, according to the release by the Denver Airport, is estimated to “produce more than $54 million in annual economic impact to Colorado’s economy and support the creation of approximately 350 new jobs across the state, generating more than $21 million in additional wages.” This is a huge win for the city, amid the continued growth pattern demonstrated by the airport. In February 2023, a 21-person delegation from the City visited Ethiopia in an effort to persuade Ethiopian Airlines to commit to starting service to Denver.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston stated that Turkish “is the most connected airline in the world” while adding that the flight “not only opens Denver to Istanbul and Turkey, [but] also opens up opportunities for us into India, Africa, and the Middle East.”

Turkish is the 26th airline to serve Denver, and the 14th U.S. destination for the carrier. Turkish joins Air Canada, Copa Airlines, and Lufthansa as international Star Alliance carriers at Denver, which serves as an important hub for United.

Arya Karnik

Author

  • Arya Karnik

    Ever since he was a kid, Arya has been interested in aviation. With his entire family overseas, he has taken many family trips worldwide to places like the United Kingdom and India. He lives in Colorado but attends The University of Alabama, studying Computer Engineering with a minor in Computer Science. He hopes to obtain his PPL and eventually translate his engineering degree to working in operations at an airline.

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