Turkish Airlines to start new flights from Istanbul

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines will start new flights from the new Istanbul Airport, the company’s chief executive officer said on Friday.

The carrier will fly to nine domestic -- Diyarbakir, Kayseri, Hatay -- and foreign -- Moscow, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, Ashgabat, Tbilisi -- destinations, Bilal Eksi said in a Twitter post.

He reminded the carrier currently flies to Ankara, Antalya, Izmir, Trabzon, Adana, Gaziantep, Baku, and Ercan from the Istanbul Airport.

The Istanbul Airport, of which first phase was opened on Oct. 29, has an annual capacity of 90 million passengers.

The annual capacity will raise to around 150-200 million passengers after the competition of its second phase by 2028.

Turkish Airlines, founded in 1933, flies to more than 306 destinations in 124 countries with its fleet of 331 passenger and cargo aircraft.