TK15 distance and great-circle path
TK15 covers 12,269 km, or 7,623 miles. That makes it an ultra-long-haul flight, near the limit of what most twinjets can fly non-stop. Of the 255 routes we track, it ranks 22 by distance.
The plane leaves Istanbul heading south-west. On the map above, the line looks curved. That is normal. The shortest path over a round planet never looks straight on a flat screen. Our guide explains how the IST–EZE route appears on a tracker map.
Why TK15 block time differs from cruise time
The schedule allows 18.0 hours from gate to gate. That works out to about 682 km/h. A Boeing 777-300ER cruises faster than that. The gap is taxi time, climbing, descending and holding.
Flying west, this route pushes against the wind. The trip back east is usually shorter, even though the distance is the same. See how timing changes the trip in our red-eye flight guide.
Can the Boeing 777-300ER comfortably fly TK15?
Yes. The route uses roughly 90% of what a Boeing 777-300ER can fly. On a windy day the airline may carry less cargo to save fuel. Flights this close to the limit are the ones that sometimes make a fuel stop. The full numbers are on our aircraft page for the Boeing 777-300ER.
What to know about TK15
- Time change: you land 6 hours behind the time you left. That is enough to cause jet lag. Here is how pilots handle it.
- Crosses the equator: you swap seasons between takeoff and landing.