TK15 distance and great-circle path
TK15 covers 10,559 km, or 6,561 miles. That makes it an ultra-long-haul flight, near the limit of what most twinjets can fly non-stop. Of the 439 routes we track, it ranks 63 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-GRU 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 587 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?
Not really. It uses about 77% of the Boeing 777-300ER's range. That leaves room for a full load of passengers and bags. 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.