Turkish Airlines announced Thursday that it will begin flying from Denver to Istanbul on June 11.
At 6,130 miles, or between roughly 12 and 13 hours in the air, the flight will be the longest scheduled passenger route to and from the Mile High City, eclipsing the 5,788-mile flight between Denver and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport operated by United Airlines.
Turkish Airlines is a Star Alliance partner airline, like United. That means passengers will be able to transfer to United Airlines flights once they arrive in Denver.
In Istanbul, passengers from Denver will be able to connect to destinations through Europe, Africa and Asia.
The flight will be operated three times weekly — Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays — on an Airbus A350-900 aircraft. A fourth frequency, on Sunday, will begin on July 9.
The announcement comes as international flight options from Denver International Airport have proliferated in recent years. Flights to Paris, Dublin and Zurich have all been added recently, and United Airlines and Lufthansa have added frequencies to London, Munich and Frankfurt.
Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington said at a news conference Friday that the airport is trying to land flights to Amsterdam, Ethiopia’s Bole Addis Ababa International Airport and other parts of Japan.
“We are being very, very ambitious in terms of trying to increase our global connections around the world,” he said.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said the new route will lead to 350 new jobs in Denver and have a $20 million economic impact.