I'm still just amazed that a market like TLV/Israel, which has a population that is several times smaller, a geographical area that's a fraction of the size, and with a GDP that's roughly half of IST/Turkey, can sustain non-stop routes to the US on all those 3 major airlines. Some food for thought.
- Israel's economy is tech-based and very international - Turkey's economy is highly domestic
- Many Jewish people living in the US, as well as Christians wanting to visit the Holy Land
- The Israel market has been off limits to the major Gulf carriers, leaving the market to US3 / El Al and some Europe connections
As for the Turkish diaspora in the US, there's a reasonable % of that population that cannot even visit Turkey for fear of being thrown in jail as a Gulenist.