Flights by
Turkish Airlines from Istanbul to Panama City flights are certainly 'exotic' or 'different'. There are many such routes globally, including , , and . According to Aeroroutes, has scheduled 12 weekly Panama City flights this northern winter. The and will be used, the latter its highest-capacity aircraft and great for freight. Aeroroutes says it will take effect on October 29th but when writing is bookable from late December, although this certainly may change. Five weekly flights are non-stop in both directions – up from the previously planned four – while a daily triangular service via Bogotá continues. This routes Istanbul-Bogota-Panama City-Istanbul. This winter's Panama schedule is as follows, with all times local: : for my weekly new routes newsletter. Turkish Airlines started Istanbul-Bogotá-Panama City-Istanbul in May 2016 with an initial three weekly flights. It rose to four weekly in September 2019, when it switched to the larger and more fuel-efficient 787-9s. Despite the pandemic, it became five weekly in July 2021 and daily for the first time in November 2021. It rose to 10 weekly in late 2022, when the first non-stop Panama flights in both directions (a so-called terminator service) began. It had been expected to be 11 daily in winter 2023, but it will now be 12. . It cannot be overstated how vital Turkish Airlines' partnership with fellow Star Alliance member is to this route, without which it could not exist. Cirium shows that Turkish codeshares with Copa to more than 20 places in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. According to booking data, more than 35,000 passengers – nearly 100 a day – transited between a Copa and Turkish Airlines flight in 2022. They either flew XXX-Istanbul-Panama City-Istanbul-XXX ('bridging' both hubs) or traveled XXX-Panama City-Istanbul. The most popular 'bridging' market was Delhi to Georgetown, Guyana. If they chose the terminator (and probably more expensive) option, that was a very long journey via
Turkey and Panama of 11,030 miles (17,752 km) – longer still if they did not. Additionally, more than 15,000 passengers who originated/ended in Istanbul – they did not transfer there – connected to a Copa flight in Panama City. The most popular market last year was Istanbul to Quito, Ecuador, followed by Montevideo and Georgetown. Interesting!