Turkish Airlines is a Finalist for Best Long-Haul Airline at the
2026 Travelling for Business Awards, and its claim on the category rests on a simple, powerful fact: no airline in the world flies to more countries. For UK business travellers whose work takes them beyond the obvious capitals, that reach is not a boast but a booking tool.
The operation pivots on Istanbul Airport, the purpose-built mega-hub that has grown into one of Europe's busiest gateways and the crossroads of the carrier's network of more than 300 destinations. The UK footprint keeps widening too: a new London Stansted service launched in March 2026 gave the airline its third London airport alongside Heathrow and Gatwick, joining departures from Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh that feed connecting banks timed for onward flights across Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Far East — the secondary cities and emerging markets where direct alternatives from Britain are thin or non-existent. One stop in Istanbul will carry a traveller from almost any part of the UK to almost anywhere their business requires.
The airline is flying through 2026 in record-breaking form.
May brought 7.9 million passengers, its best-ever result for the month, and the carrier posted a $197 million second-quarter profit despite the year's regional turbulence — evidence of an operation resilient enough to absorb shocks that ground weaker networks. Fleet growth continues, with new-generation widebodies expanding long-haul capacity, and the network keeps evolving,
Chengdu recently becoming the carrier's fourth mainland China gateway.
Onboard, Turkish Airlines has built a distinct identity around its catering — flying chefs in business class and meal service that consistently outperforms the category — together with generous baggage policies and a Miles&Smiles loyalty programme whose earning rates and partner network frequent flyers consistently rate highly. It is a proposition aimed squarely at the traveller who measures an airline by what it delivers rather than what it promises.
A Finalist's berth in 2026 recognises scale with substance: unmatched country coverage, record demand and a product with genuine personality. The winners will be announced at the 2026 Travelling for Business Awards, and Turkish Airlines' combination of reach and momentum makes it a contender the field cannot ignore.
