Turkish Airlines (THY), Turkey's flag carrier, flew its first non-stop flight from Istanbul to San Francisco International Airport (SFO), making San Francisco the airline's seventh non-stop destination in the U.S.

Taking off at 01:05 p.m. local time in Turkey from Atatürk International Airport on April 13, the Boeing 777 aircraft landed at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) after nearly 14 hours in the air. A ceremony was held at SFO on the occasion of the first flight from Istanbul, and it was attended by Turkish Consulate General in Los Angeles Raife Gülru Gezer, THY Vice General Director Ahmet Olmuştur, Director of the San Francisco Mayor's Office of International Trade and Commerce Mark Chandler, President and CEO of San Francisco Travel Joe D'Alessandra, San Francisco International Airport Director John L. Martin and many guests.

THY President İlker Aycı delivered a speech before the flight saying that the company is happy to begin a direct flight service to San Francisco, an important destination for the company due to its location in Silicon Valley, where the headquarters of technology giants like Apple, Google and Facebook are located. "Connecting our beautiful city of Istanbul with the beautiful city of San Francisco via direct flights offered by THY will bring significant advantages," Aycı added.

THY flights will operate five days per week to San Francisco, which is the 11th location for direct services between Istanbul and a city on the two American continents after Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Toronto, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Boston and Montreal. Moreover, the San Francisco route is the second-longest route after Los Angeles.