Turkish Airlines has strengthened its presence in Africa by resuming passenger flights to Benghazi, Libya.
This addition brings the total number of African destinations served from its Istanbul hub to an impressive 51, reinforcing its position as a key connector between Africa and the rest of the world.
According to data by Cirium Diio information published by simpleflying.com, it last served Benghazi in 2014, when the civil war meant it suspended operations. I am sure it will be in my next jam-packed Weekly Routes article!
Benghazi flights followed Turkish Airlines’ return to Tripoli in April 2024. As Tripoli International was damaged and is now closed, it uses Mitiga instead. ITA Airways has just resumed Libya service.
While significant, passenger flights to 51 African airports is not Turkish Airlines’ record: it flew to 52 in 2019 and 2020. Benghazi flights came after the carrier began routes elsewhere globally, including Sydney, its second Australian destination, and Santiago de Chile.
Welcome back, Benghazi!
Turkish Airlines returned to the Libya’s second most populous city on January 14. Flights run three weekly, with the Boeing 737-800 primarily scheduled. However, the 737-900ER, 737 MAX 8, and 737 MAX 9 are all down to appear in 2025. Flightradar24 shows that the first roundtrip service deployed TC-LCM, a 5.9-year-old MAX 8.
At just 685 nautical miles (1,269 km), Benghazi is Turkish Airlines’ third-shortest African route, with only Alexandria and Cairo covering less distance.
Turkish Airlines is the third carrier to operate between Istanbul and Benghazi. It joins Berniq Airways and Libyan Wings, which focus on the local market. The trio has up to three daily flights.
Turkish Airlines’ schedule is as follows, with all times local. Note the unusually long 120-minute turnaround in Libya. Perhaps this is because of security reasons. After all, Tripoli has the same duration.
- Istanbul-Benghazi: TK641, 09:15-10:50 (2h 35m block time)
- Benghazi-Istanbul: TK642, 12:50-16:10 (2h 20m)
Turkish Airlines to Africa: a summary
With 51 passenger destinations in 38 countries in North Africa and the Sub-Saharan region, Turkish Airlines serves more airports on the vast continent than elsewhere except Europe (84). It plans 42 daily departures to Africa this year, but as many as 49. When will it hit the 50 milestone?
Reasons for the carrier’s African significance abound, including:
- Istanbul’s proximity to Europe, which is the continent critical for the passenger feed to sustain its African operations (see later)
- Transit visas are not required for Africans traveling to the world via Istanbul, which provides a huge competitive advantage compared to other airlines
- The massive use of narrowbodies: they operate 72% of flights, including 58% to sub-Saharan Africa, including some very long sectors
Why is narrowbody use intriguing?
Its very high narrowbody use means lower capacity, de-risking the opportunity and helping to open up new and often thin markets, especially with lower competition.
It means far lower trip costs than widebody aircraft and helps with yields. When markets are sufficiently developed, frequencies could rise, increasing market share.
Alternatively, flights could switch to widebodies, reducing seat-mile costs and increasing freight capacity. The competitive landscape would partly dictate the decision-making.
Where its passengers go
According to booking data for the 12 months to November 2024, Turkish Airlines carried around 3.8 million passengers who traveled to/from Africa via Istanbul. More than 10,000 passengers connected daily. Approximately two-thirds of people went to/from Europe.
Despite this, the most popular transit-based country pair was US-Egypt (via Istanbul), with Turkish Airlines carrying more than 100,000 passengers. Next was Germany-Egypt, and then Turkey (except Istanbul)-Algeria, Turkey (except Istanbul)-Egypt, UK-Nigeria, France-Egypt, Germany-South Africa, UAE-Algeria, Germany-Tanzania, and Saudi Arabia-Algeria.
At the city level, Dubai-Algiers was the most popular origin-destination. Next was London-Lagos, then Los Angeles-Cairo, Algiers-Antalya, London-Abuja, Algiers-Guangzhou, Dubai-Bamako (the Mali capital is among Dubai’s largest unserved African cities), London-Mogadishu, Paris-Hurghada, and Paris-Bamako.
Europe is perhaps less prevalent in the above lists than might be expected. As befits a considerable hub, the accumulative effect drives Europe’s dominance as Turkish Airlines has over 900 African city pairs with 1,000+ transit passengers.
