While it remains to be seen with which timeline this will happen, Turkish Airlines has revealed the next markets in the United States that it hopes to expand to.
Turkish Airlines outlines US growth plans
This week, Turkish Airlines launched its newest flight to the United States, as the airline began nonstop service between Istanbul (IST) and Denver (DEN). Turkish chairman Ahmet Bolat gave some interviews around this launch, including revealing the next cities in the United States that the airline hopes to fly to.
Bolat shared plans for Turkish to fly from Istanbul to the following gateways in the United States:
- Charlotte (CLT)
- Minneapolis (MSP)
- Orlando (MCO)
- Philadelphia (PHL)
For context, Turkish currently serves 14 destinations in the United States, including Atlanta (ATL), Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), Denver (DEN), Detroit (DTW), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), San Francisco (SFO), Seattle (SEA), and Washington (IAD).
Bolat also stated that he expects Turkish will eventually serve 20 destinations in the United States. So the above four proposed routes would get the airline up to 18 destinations, meaning there are two more that may be on the carrier’s radar.
Turkish is unique in often revealing years in advance where it intends to fly to. Many airlines try to stay tight-lipped for as long as possible, to prevent a competitive response. But clearly that’s not something that Turkish is concerned about.
My take on Turkish Airlines’ US expansion plans
Turkish Airlines is already a massive airline, and flies to more countries than any other airline in the world. The airline has even bigger growth plans, and wants to double in size between 2023 and 2033. The airline can make most markets work, given just how expansive its network is. It doesn’t matter whether you want to fly to Ashgabat or Kabul or Johannesburg or Mumbai or Zanzibar, as the airline can get you there in one stop.
It is interesting to note the extent to which Turkish’s network growth is focused on serving hubs of US carriers, regardless of whether or not they partner with them. It of course makes sense for Turkish to serve hubs of Star Alliance carriers, like Denver, Houston, Newark, etc.
But now Turkish is going after oneworld and SkyTeam hubs as well. In terms of American’s hubs, Turkish recently launched flights to Dallas, and is now planning flights to Charlotte and Philadelphia. Meanwhile in terms of Delta hubs, Turkish recently launched flights to Detroit, and is now planning flights to Minneapolis.
Ultimately this might just be a coincidence, at least to some extent. Turkish seems to be targeting the highest traffic airports in the United States, which makes sense. Perhaps that doesn’t fully factor in that some of these airports are big because they’re huge connecting hubs, rather than because they’re huge markets in and of themselves.
Looking at the 20 highest traffic international airports in the United States, the airports that Turkish hasn’t announced plans to serve include Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Las Vegas (LAS), and Phoenix (PHX).
Bottom line
Turkish Airlines is continuing to grow in the United States, and the company’s chairman has revealed that the airline intends to fly to 20 destinations in the US, with the next cities including Charlotte, Minneapolis, Orlando, and Philadelphia.
None of these markets should be particularly surprising, since there are only so many major airports in the United States. It seems that Turkish can make just about any market work nowadays, given how its network has scaled. I must say that I’m a bit surprised that the airline doesn’t find it more lucrative to ramp up service in some existing markets, rather than adding more and more destinations.
What do you make of Turkish’s expansion plans?
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