Turkish Airlines to launch 14th US route: Denver to Istanbul

Turkish Airlines plans to launch a new U.S. destination this summer. On June 11, the Istanbul-based carrier will launch nonstop flights from Denver International Airport (DEN) to Istanbul Airport (IST).

It will be the airline's 14th U.S. city.

The new route also be a major milestone for Denver. At 6,130 miles in length, the nearly 12-hour flight from Denver will be the airport's new longest, topping United Airlines' flight to Tokyo's Narita Airport (NRT) by about 400 miles.

Turkish will start its new Denver service with three flights a week before expanding to four weekly round trips in July.

Turkish Airlines' new Denver service

Turkish Airlines will operate its new Denver route with an Airbus A350-900, which seats a total of 316 passengers (although it will operate a Boeing 777-300ER for the inaugural flight).

Here's how the itinerary shakes out:

Flights will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays when the service launches on June 11. Then, on July 11, the carrier will add a fourth weekly round trip on Sundays.

At a news conference Thursday, a Turkish Airlines executive noted the carrier's growth plans in the U.S. and North America more broadly.

"Expansion to the U.S. is very important to Turkish Airlines," Fatih Durmaz, vice president of sales for the Americas, said. "We have strongly committed to growing our presence in the U.S.

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International expansion in Denver

Turkish Airlines' arrival in Denver also continues what's been a quickly expanding international route map for the airport.

Turkish will be Denver's 26th airline, with Istanbul its 31st nonstop international destination and Turkey its 17th country reachable via nonstop flight.

Altogether, Denver's international seats this summer (in June, July and August) will be up 14% versus last year and by a whopping 48% over 2019, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Here's what the airport's transatlantic and transpacific route map looks like for this summer, with the addition of the Istanbul route.

At Thursday's news conference, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston specifically touted the arrival of the Turkish Airlines flights as key to additional connectivity to many parts of the world.

"This not just opens up Denver to Istanbul and Turkey," Johnston said. "It opens up opportunities for us into India, into Africa, into the Middle East."

A major hub for United, Denver will host four of United's Star Alliance partners by this summer; on top of Turkish Airlines' planned service, the airport is already served by Air Canada, Copa Airlines and Lufthansa.

Although Turkish has made changes to its Miles&Smiles loyalty program in recent months (which many travelers have found amounted to a devaluation) the program remains an option for passengers looking to redeem credit card rewards points for air travel.

Capital One, Bilt Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards are all Miles&Smiles transfer partners.

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