The first Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul touched down in Sydney last Friday, offering another link between Australia and Europe.
Turkish Airlines has begun its four-times weekly return services between Turkey and Sydney, with the route to add 68,620 seats into Sydney Airport each year, worth an estimated $53 million to New South Wales.
Currently the Turkish Airlines service stops to refuel in Kuala Lumpur, but the airline intends to make the route a direct service between Australia and Europe in the future.
It has similar plans for its Melbourne-Istanbul services, which began earlier in the year.
The new Istanbul-Sydney flights were supported by the NSW Government’s Aviation Attraction Fund, which has so far assisted more than 40 Sydney bound routes to take flight since the pandemic travel pause upended the aviation landscape worldwide.
Meanwhile in the west, flights between Guangzhou and Perth have also resumed, adding more than 780 international seats per week into Perth Airport.
The thrice-weekly return service between Perth and the mainland China city is operated by China Southern Airlines.
This is the first time the two cities have been connected since the pandemic, with the route supported by Western Australia’s aviation incentive scheme funded by the state government. As in NSW, the fund is aimed at reconnecting Western Australia with the world post-pandemic.
Also in Perth, Emirates has added a second daily service between Western Australia’s capital and Dubai.
Already in operation, the new service will add 129,000 inbound seats to Perth each year from the UAE aviation hub.
Given Dubai is a major stopover destination between Europe and Australia, the second service from Dubai should make it easier for international conference delegates to travel to meetings in Perth and make the destination more attractive for international incentives.
