Turkish Airlines has launched Somalia’s only non-stop flight to Europe: Istanbul-Mogadishu and Istanbul-Djibouti, replacing the former Istanbul-Djibouti-Mogadishu service.
Due to coronavirus, the Turkish flag carrier operated Istanbul-Mogadishu non-stop between July and September 2021, but this was a temporary setup. Non-stops also existed briefly in 2012, when Turkish Airlines began Somalia service, including on the first flight – which used the A340-300.
Turkish Airlines started Istanbul (then Atatürk) to Mogadishu on March 6th, 2012, despite Somalia’s unrest that ordinarily deterred airlines.
Initially operating twice-weekly via Khartoum, it shifted to routing via Djibouti in August 2012. It continued via Djibouti until March 26th, 2022. Stopping in Djibouti instead cut 162 (261km) miles off the journey each way, reducing fuel consumption, and block time.
Turkish Airlines is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey. As of August 2019, it operated scheduled services to 315 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the world by number of passenger destinations. The airline serves more destinations non-stop from a single airport than any other airline in the world and flies to 126 countries. With an operational fleet of 24 cargo aircraft, the airline’s cargo division serves 82 destinations.
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