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Turkish Airlines returns to Newark Liberty

Edward Russell
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Edward Russell Is a Senior Aviation Business Reporter at The Points Guy. Edward joined the TPG team in June 2019 after seven years at FlightGlobal.
Nov. 12, 2019
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3 min read
Airplane Traffic At JFK Airport in New York
Turkish Airlines returns to Newark Liberty
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Turkish Airlines will land at Newark Liberty International Airport next year, complementing its existing service to New York John F. Kennedy with the new route to the New Jersey airport.

The Star Alliance carrier will offer daily seasonal service between its Istanbul (IST) hub and Newark (EWR) beginning in May, Turkish said on its website. The route will be flown with an Airbus A330-300 from May 25 through Oct. 24. The service returns Turkish to Newark for the first time since 1994, according to Routes Online.

Turkish's new Newark service will be in addition to its thrice-daily service between Istanbul and JFK, according to Cirium schedule data. The JFK flights are operated by a combination of A330-300 and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

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Turkish codeshares with fellow Star Alliance member United Airlines on select U.S. domestic routes, Cirium schedules show. However, the partnership does not cover any routes from Newark.

While Turkish has been known to be quite generous with award availability on its U.S. flights, we're not seeing a single award seat for next year on this new operation — though the flight is available for purchase. It could be that award inventory will be loaded in the days or weeks to come, and if so, you'd need the following number of miles to book from popular Star Alliance award programs (all award rates one-way):

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  • United MileagePlus: 30,000 miles in economy, 70,000 miles in business class
  • Air Canada's Aeroplan: 37,500 miles in economy, 57,500 miles in business class
  • Avianca LifeMiles: 49,000 miles in economy, 63,000 miles in business class

You could also book through ANA Mileage Club — a 1:1 transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards — though you can only book round-trip itineraries through this program, and you'd need to pay ~$500 in fuel surcharges, an added cost that isn't a factor with the other three programs.

Newark will be Turkish's 10th destination in the U.S., and its first new market since landing in Atlanta (ATL) in 2016.

No other carriers fly between any of the New York-area airports and Istanbul.

Featured image by Getty Images