Turkish Airlines· Callsign THY52 ·Daily

TK52 from Istanbul to Tokyo, tracked live

The Tokyo service embodies Istanbul's role as a bridge between Europe and East Asia.

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Status on this page means observed ADS-B activity inside available receiver coverage. Confirm official delay, cancellation, gate and booking status with Turkish Airlines.

Istanbul
Istanbul Airport
20:10 UTC+3
13h 00m
8,979 km · 5,579 mi
Non-stop
Tokyo
Narita International Airport
15:10 JST (UTC+9)
Typical schedule · next departure Thursday, October 29 · times shown in airport local time
Aircraft
typical equipment
Distance
8,979 km
4,848 nautical miles
Heading
50°
tracks north-east
Clock change
+6 h
on arrival
Block speed
691 km/h
gate to gate average
Range used
64%
of the type's book range
Length rank
#112
of 439 tracked routes

Follow TK52 in real time

The aircraft appears below whenever it is airborne and inside receiver coverage. Its planned route is drawn between the two airports.

TK52 is not transmitting right now. It may be between rotations, on the ground, or out of receiver range - Check back near 20:10 at IST. The full map has the rest of the sky, and what is flying over me will name whatever is above you instead.

TK52 at a glance

  • The trip: 8,979 km (5,579 miles) from Istanbul to Tokyo, flying north-east.
  • How long: 13h 00m gate to gate. That is about 691 km/h on average, taxi time included.
  • Your watch: set it 6 hours forward on arrival.
  • Window seat tip: the right (south-facing) side gets the sun on a daytime flight.
  • The plane: usually a Boeing 787-9. This route uses about 64% of how far it can fly.
  • When it goes: out of IST in late evening, into NRT in the afternoon. It is an overnight, so most of the cabin will try to sleep.

TK52 route overview: IST to NRT

TK52 distance and great-circle path

TK52 covers 8,979 km, or 5,579 miles. That makes it a long-haul flight, a widebody route with a full night's flying time. Of the 439 routes we track, it ranks 112 by distance.

The plane leaves Istanbul heading north-east. 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-NRT route appears on a tracker map.

Why TK52 block time differs from cruise time

The schedule allows 13.0 hours from gate to gate. That works out to about 691 km/h. A Boeing 787-9 cruises faster than that. The gap is taxi time, climbing, descending and holding.

Flying east, this route usually picks up tailwinds high up. The flight back west normally takes longer, even though the distance is identical. See how timing changes the trip in our red-eye flight guide.

Can the Boeing 787-9 comfortably fly TK52?

Not really. It uses about 64% of the Boeing 787-9's range. That leaves room for a full load of passengers and bags. The full numbers are on our aircraft page for the Boeing 787-9.

What to know about TK52

  • Time change: you land 6 hours ahead of the time you left. That is enough to cause jet lag. Here is how pilots handle it.

TK52 activity in the past 7 days

Our database contains 7 observations of TK52 across 7 UTC dates in this window, most recently 2026-10-29. Those records contain 4 distinct transponder addresses.

The median recorded visibility was 286 minutes. That is time inside receiver coverage, not airborne duration or an on-time-performance measurement.

Date (UTC)RouteFirst trackedLast trackedTracked for
2026-10-29 tracked in flight 00:17 UTC 07:42 UTC 7h 25m
2026-10-28 tracked in flight 19:57 UTC 20:21 UTC 0h 24m
2026-10-26 tracked in flight 00:05 UTC 04:51 UTC 4h 46m
2026-10-25 tracked in flight 19:44 UTC 21:57 UTC 2h 13m
2026-10-24 tracked in flight 00:02 UTC 07:06 UTC 7h 4m
2026-10-23 tracked in flight 19:32 UTC 23:59 UTC 4h 27m
2026-10-22 tracked in flight 00:11 UTC 07:14 UTC 7h 4m

“First/last tracked” are when TK52 entered and left receiver coverage, in UTC.

Airports and aircraft on TK52

Every scheduled service we follow is listed in the tracker directory, including Turkish Airlines and other tracked flights grouped by airline.

IST Istanbul Airport Istanbul, Turkey · live radar →
NRT Narita International Airport Tokyo, Japan · live radar →
B789 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner Typical equipment · specs →

How much CO2 does TK52 emit?

Worked from the great-circle distance and the fuel burn measured for Boeing 787-9, the aircraft normally flying this route. Carbon dioxide only - see the method below.

Distance flown8,979 km
AircraftBoeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Fuel burn rate5.64 kg per km
Fuel burned50,610 kg
CO2, whole flight159.9 tonnes
Seats, typical layout290
Passengers carried241 at an 83% load factor
CO2 per passenger664 kg

Where that lands by cabin

The aircraft burns the same fuel whoever is aboard, so the cabins divide one total rather than each carrying their own. A seat's share is the floor it takes up, which is why an economy seat comes out below the 664 kg cabin average and a flat bed well above it.

Economy238 seats, 198 flown
480 kg CO2 per seat
Business44 seats, 37 flown
1,391 kg CO2 per seat
First9 seats, 7 flown
1,919 kg CO2 per seat

Taken whole, TK52 emits what 2,665 trees take back out of the air in a year. One economy seat on it accounts for about the same carbon dioxide as driving a petrol car 3,903 km, or 18,960 km of the same journey by train.

How this is worked out. Fuel burn is read from published measurements of this type, taken at sectors of 6,204 km, 9,208 km and 12,116 km, interpolated to this route's 8,979 km. It counts carbon dioxide only, and the cabin split assumes the layout typical of this size of aircraft. Read the full method, sources and caveats, or put TK52 against another flight.

Other tracked flights from Istanbul

FlightRouteTypical aircraft
TK169Singapore (SIN) → Istanbul (IST) Airbus A350-900TK169 flight tracker →
TK270Chişinău (RMO) → Istanbul (IST) Airbus A321TK270 flight tracker →
TK900Panama City (PTY) → Istanbul (IST) TK900 flight tracker →
SU2136Moscow (SVO) → Istanbul (IST) Airbus A321SU2136 flight tracker →
AF1390Paris (CDG) → Istanbul (IST) Airbus A220-300AF1390 flight tracker →
6E17Mumbai (BOM) → Istanbul (IST) Boeing 777-300ER6E17 flight tracker →

Data sources and review

Reviewed 2026-07-29 by Flight-Tracker.net Editorial Team

The route and typical schedule are maintained reference data. Live ADS-B observations are evidence of receiver coverage, not proof of on-time performance. Always confirm the operating date and times with the airline.

Read our schedule and observation review process, or inspect the machine-readable reference dataset.

Put TK52 on your own site

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TK52 frequently asked questions

How long is the TK52 flight?

Istanbul to Tokyo is 8,979 km (5,579 miles) in a straight line, scheduled at 13.0 hours gate to gate. Actual airborne time varies with winds, routing and holding.

What aircraft operates TK52?

Typically a Boeing 787-9 (full specifications), using roughly 64% of that type's published range.

Does TK52 fly every day?

The published pattern is daily, departing 20:10 local from IST. Always confirm with the airline before travelling.

Can I track TK52 live?

Yes. Whenever TK52 is airborne and in receiver coverage the map above follows it live, with altitude, ground speed and heading. Between rotations, the seven-day log above shows where it has been.

More Turkish Airlines flights to watch

FlightRouteTypical aircraft
TK169 Singapore (SIN) → Istanbul (IST) Airbus A350-900 TK169 flight tracker →
TK270 Chişinău (RMO) → Istanbul (IST) Airbus A321 TK270 flight tracker →
TK900 Panama City (PTY) → Istanbul (IST) TK900 flight tracker →
TK1 Istanbul (IST) → New York (JFK) Boeing 777-300ER TK1 flight tracker →
TK9 Istanbul (IST) → Los Angeles (LAX) Airbus A350-900 TK9 flight tracker →
TK15 Istanbul (IST) → Sao Paulo (GRU) → Buenos Aires (EZE) Boeing 777-300ER TK15 flight tracker →
TK1979 Istanbul (IST) → London (LHR) Airbus A350-900 TK1979 flight tracker →