en.Wedoany.com Reported - Turkish Airlines has confirmed plans to add Chengdu to its route network in November, bringing its number of destinations in mainland China to four.

The Star Alliance member will launch a three-times-weekly service between Istanbul Airport and Chengdu Tianfu International Airport on November 11, operated by Boeing 787-9 aircraft. Outbound flights will operate on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, while return flights will run on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

With the new route, Chengdu will join Beijing Capital International Airport, Shanghai Pudong International Airport, and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in Turkish Airlines' mainland China network. The new service will introduce additional competition on the Tianfu Airport–Istanbul route (TFU-IST), which is currently operated by Sichuan Airlines.

With a population exceeding 21 million, Chengdu is one of China's largest metropolitan areas and has developed into a major hub for technology, manufacturing, logistics, and aviation. Its geographic location helps Turkish Airlines access markets beyond the coastal cities covered by its existing mainland China network.

The route addition follows Turkish Airlines' efforts to boost capacity in Asia. OAG Schedules Analyser data shows that for summer 2026, the carrier's one-way seat capacity from Istanbul to Asian destinations stands at approximately 3.49 million, up 17.8% from around 2.96 million a year earlier. In the mainland China market, Turkish Airlines will offer approximately 376,800 one-way seats across its three routes to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou in summer 2026, an increase of 71.5% compared to summer 2025.

The capacity shift toward Asia is part of the company's route network reconfiguration. During Turkish Airlines' second-quarter earnings call earlier this month, Chief Financial Officer Metin Gülşen stated that rising oil prices, changes in overflight restrictions, and Middle East conflicts have necessitated repeated adjustments to the route network.

Gülşen said on the call that Asia remained the airline's strongest-performing market in the second quarter. Following the shift in the competitive landscape after the Middle East conflicts, demand has continued to benefit as some passengers diverted from Gulf routes to other itineraries. He noted that the company responded by further expanding capacity in key markets such as China, Hong Kong, and Thailand.

The airline's Asia capacity is 7% higher than originally planned, up 18% year-on-year, while load factors in the region improved by 1.8 percentage points.

Turkish Airlines also recently confirmed that, effective October 26, its five-times-weekly Istanbul–Sydney service will route via Singapore instead of the current Kuala Lumpur stopover, leveraging fifth-freedom rights to sell tickets on the Singapore–Sydney segment. Following the adjustment, the carrier's flights in Singapore will increase from 17 to 22 per week, while Kuala Lumpur will decrease from 19 to 14 per week. The three-times-weekly service to Melbourne via Singapore will continue to operate, with both Australian routes integrated through the same Southeast Asian gateway hub. The Sydney service will continue to use Airbus A350-900 aircraft.

In the first seven months of 2026, Turkish Airlines and its low-cost subsidiary AJet carried a combined 54 million passengers, up 5.4% year-on-year; available seat kilometers grew 4.7% to 161.2 billion. In July alone, the group carried 9.5 million passengers. As of the end of July, the group's fleet consisted of 563 aircraft.