Turkish Airlines plans to ramp up frequency on its flights between Istanbul and Tokyo Narita next year, with the current daily service set to eventually rise to an 11-times-weekly operation by next summer.
Starting April 13, 2020, the Turkish flag carrier will launch an additional thrice-weekly flight (TK50/TK51) to supplement its existing daily (TK52/TK53) service, before upping it to four times a week on June 8, 2020.
Below is the schedule for the existing and new services:
| Flight No. | From | To | Departs | Arrives | Days |
| TK52 | Istanbul (IST) | Tokyo (NRT) | 0140 | 1910 | Daily |
| TK50 | Istanbul (IST) | Tokyo (NRT) | 1635 | 1005+1 | *Mon, Fri, Sat (**Wed) |
| TK53 | Tokyo (NRT) | Istanbul (IST) | 2140 | 0340+1 | Daily |
| TK51 | Tokyo (NRT) | Istanbul (IST) | 1145 | 1745 | *Tue, Sat, Sun (**Thu) |
*Effective April 13, 2020
**Effective June 8, 2020
At this stage it is unclear what aircraft will be operating these new flights, with the airline’s online schedule simply stating “equipment varies”. Turkish Airlines has two long-haul aircraft in its fleet that could make the flight, the Airbus A330 and the Boeing 777-300ER, with the latter deployed on its current daily service to Tokyo Narita.
Business Traveller Asia-Pacific has previously reviewed Turkish Airlines Boeing 777-300ER business class product and service on the airline’s Hong Kong-Istanbul route.
[embed]https://www.businesstraveller.com/tried-and-tested/flight-review-turkish-airlines-boeing-777-300er-business-class/[/embed]Turkish Airlines shifted its operations to the new Istanbul Airport last month. The carrier already has three lounges at the new airport – the Turkish Airlines Business Lounge, Miles & Smiles Lounge, and Domestic Lounge – with two others, the Exclusive Lounge and Arrival Lounge, also set to open in future.
