Turkish Airlines has announced Kraków as its next European destination. Curiously, fellow Star Alliance member LOT Polish added it on March 9th, but then it switched to Turkish. It comes at the expense of Katowice, which Turkish was expected to begin on July 1st. This summer, the carrier will serve 82 international destinations across Europe from its huge Istanbul Airport hub.
Turkish Airlines adds Kraków
Hampered by bilateral restrictions which limit market access, Kraków is only Turkish Airlines’ second destination in Poland. A very popular inbound market, it’ll also cater to the roughly eight million Poles who live within a 90-minute drive, a distance that sees its catchment area significantly overlap with Katowice.
Bookable and starting May 1st, Kraków will use the 737-900ER. As shown below, it has a so-called split schedule, which increases connectivity by being fed by, and feeding, different arrival and departure banks at its Istanbul hub. It is scheduled as follows, with all times local:
- Istanbul Airport to Kraków: TK1273, 18:20-19:30 (2h 10m block time); Mondays
- Istanbul Airport to Kraków: TK1273, 07:20-08:30 (2h 10m); Wednesdays, Fridays
- Kraków to Istanbul Airport: TK1274, 20:20-23:35 (2h 15m); Mondays
- Kraków to Istanbul Airport: TK1272, 09:20-12:35 (2h 15m); Wednesdays, Fridays
82 European destinations
Internationally, Turkish Airlines will serve 82 European destinations in 35 countries from its Istanbul hub this summer. This includes Ercan in the disputed territory of Northern Cyprus. Some readers may prefer to remove this; that’s up to you.
According to the latest OAG data, Turkish Airlines will have an average of 196 daily flights across Europe (double for both ways). Examining the carrier’s whole summer 2023 network using OAG data shows that this region accounts for a third of flights. Only domestic Turkey is bigger (35%).
Although hardly a fair comparison, given how much closer Turkish Airlines is, Qatar Airways will serve 39 European airports and Emirates 38. (For comparability, I’ve not included Turkey here, even though it is international to them.) If Emirates and increasingly important partner flydubai are combined, they’ll serve 68 destinations, considerably narrowing the gap with Turkish Airlines.
The duo’s European network strength is helped by flydubai’s extensive network in European Russia and Italy. The 68 include Kraków, served daily by flydubai using the 737 MAX.
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Germany is number one
This summer, Turkish Airlines will serve 11 airports in Germany from Istanbul: Berlin, Bremen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg, and Stuttgart. It is, of course, influenced by Germany’s substantial Turkish diaspora. The airline’s second most-served country by network breadth is Italy, with eight destinations.
Some 13% of the airline’s European network is in Germany. If flights are considered, it rises to 18%. This is because of the frequency with which the 11 German airports are served. If seats for sale are examined, it has 19%, helped by the heavy use of widebodies.
A quarter of its German flights will see twin aisles this summer, with A330-300, A330-200, A350-900, and 787-9 all used. Between them, they have up to nine daily departures to Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Munich.
