When Icelandair started nonstop flights to Denver in May 2012, Reykjavik wasn’t necessarily a top-of-mind destination. But the route helped introduce thousands of Colorado travelers to steamy soaks in the Blue Lagoon and frosty searches for the northern lights.
Now that Turkish Airlines has launched a nonstop flight between Denver and Istanbul three times a week, with plans to go up to four times a week next month, what might be in store for Colorado travelers?
For starters, Turkish Airlines will provide discounted “launch” fares starting at $787 on roundtrip tickets purchased by July 3 for travel through July 20. Going forward, the company’s route network will provide Colorado flyers with an unrivaled ability to connect more easily to previously hard-to-reach places.
If the experience of what Icelandair did for Iceland tourism repeats, the route should open Turkey to more visits from the region and vice versa.
Turkish Airline’s route network reaches 293 international destinations in 130 countries, plus another 53 domestically. United Airlines, the largest carrier out of Denver’s airport, reaches 134 international destinations in 67 countries.
“We have a very extensive reach in Africa and the Middle East,” said Ahmet Bolat, chairman of Turkish Airlines, during an interview June 11 after he arrived with a delegation on the inaugural flight from Istanbul. The airline also has numerous routes into Europe and Asia.
“We have a very nice threshold of value,” Bolat said. But that doesn’t mean compromising on service, and the airline is known for some of the best food available in the air, according to the Points Guy.
Most layovers at the Istanbul Airport are under 2.5 hours, making it rare to find people napping in chairs or camping out on the ground, Bolat said. When connections take longer than 12 hours, the airline provides a free one-night hotel stay. For layovers of six to 12 hours, passengers are offered free tours via Tourinstanbul to keep them occupied.
After experiencing the city, which has been continuously inhabited for at least 2,500 years, the hope is that connecting passengers will want to return and make Turkey a primary destination in the future, Bolat said.
The airline also offers something that others don’t. With a highly-rated health care system that can provide comparable services at 30% to 60% less than what is charged in the U.S., Turkey is promoting medical tourism.
For $5,000, Turkish Airlines provides a package to U.S. travelers with a roundtrip flight, a week’s stay in a four-star hotel, city tours and a head-to-toe medical exam, including a full-body MRI and endoscopy.
By comparison, the Mayo Clinic’s Executive Health Program runs from $5,000 to $11,000 just for the exam, not including travel expenses.
The new flight is the longest out of Denver International Airport at 6,130 miles, nearly 400 miles beyond the flight between Denver and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport. It will make reaching the country much easier for expatriates and business travelers.
“We have been waiting for this flight for a long time,” said Nilgul Karslioglu, a Fort Collins resident originally from Turkey who travels back to Ankara at least once a year.
She said a nonstop flight out of Denver eliminates the added hours spent connecting through an East Coast gateway or Frankfurt or Munich. She might boost her annual visits to twice a year.
But Karslioglu, president of the Turkish American Cultural Society of Colorado, also acknowledges that the state’s Turkish community, which numbers around 2,000 people, isn’t large enough to support the route by itself.
Officials with Turkish Airlines and in Colorado are working out plans to boost traffic on both sides, not unlike what Icelandair did 12 years ago with its tourism packages.
“Tourism fills the plane first,” said Richard Scharf, president and CEO of Visit Denver.
Scharf said the route should pull in travelers from Salt Lake City and Albuquerque already used to departing through Denver for international trips. And it could become popular with university and college students from the Middle East and central Asia attending universities in the state.
Expect some tourism packages from Turkish Airlines, as well. Bolat brainstormed in real time with his team about whether to try to lure Colorado residents to escape the summer heat or winter cold, asking about how hot temperatures reached in Denver during the summer.
Maybe winter escapes would be better. Either way, Turkey’s Mediterranean climate should appeal, regardless of the season, he said.
