easyJet has announced flights to Istanbul Airport, a brand-new airport in its network. It will fly from Manchester this summer, meaning the Istanbul market will have three airlines and up to five daily flights.

In October 2021, Majid Khan, Istanbul Airport's Vice President of Air Service Development, told me how he is keen to attract more (U)LCCs focused on point-to-point (P2P) passengers. Recently, it welcomed Transavia, while Wizz Air is coming. Now it is the turn of easyJet.

easyJet adds Manchester-Istanbul

Beginning on June 9th, easyJet will serve the 1,660-mile (2,672 km) route on Mondays and Fridays, suitable for long weekend trips in the fantastic city. It will, of course, focus entirely on the P2P market, which in 2022 totaled approximately 148,000 roundtrip passengers. Presumably using the A320neo, the schedule is as follows, with all times local:

  • Manchester to Istanbul Airport: U22151, 07:00-13:20
  • Istanbul Airport to Manchester: U22152, 14:20-16:45 (Mondays), 14:30-16:55 (Fridays)

Click here for Manchester-Istanbul flights.

easyJet Manchester-Istanbul
Image: GCMap.

easyJet will compete directly with Turkish Airlines, which serves the market with triple-daily flights. This summer, it'll mainly use A321s, but widebodies are commonplace. It'll compete indirectly with Pegasus, which serves Manchester daily from Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen, on the Asian side of the Bosporus, variously with A320s, A321neos, and 737-800s.

Returns to Istanbul after nine years

easyJet has served Istanbul before. It launched service to Sabiha Gökçen from London Luton and Basel in 2006, followed by London Gatwick in 2008. Showing how long ago it was and how far easyJet has come since then, the A319 and 737-700 were primarily used. Gatwick ended in 2011, and Luton and Basel in 2014.

easyJet A319 on stand at London Luton
Photo: Longfin Media I Shutterstock

For bilateral air service agreement reasons, easyJet Switzerland operated Basel-Sabiha Gökçen. The route was unusual because it often operated overnight. Analyzing schedules using Cirium shows that the most common departure time from Basel was 22:25, arriving at 02:15+1. It'd then depart at 03:25 and arrive home at 05:30.

Stay aware: Sign up for our weekly routes newsletter.

Five daily Manchester-Istanbul flights

The addition of easyJet means there will now be up to five daily flights from Manchester to Istanbul this summer. On August 14th, for example, these are all scheduled:

  • 07:00: easyJet (U22151) to Istanbul Airport; presumably A320neo
  • 10:45: Turkish Airlines (TK1994) to Istanbul Airport; A321neo
  • 11:55: Pegasus (PC1180) to Sabiha Gökçen; A321neo
  • 13:00: Turkish Airlines (TK1992) to Istanbul Airport; A321neo
  • 17:25: Turkish Airlines (TK1996) to Istanbul Airport; A330-300

easyJet's 68th Manchester route

According to the latest Cirium data, Manchester will be easyJet's sixth most-served airport by seats for sale this summer, behind only Gatwick, Geneva, Milan Malpensa, Luton, and Bristol. This summer, Istanbul is the LCC's 68th route from Manchester, with its network involving 24 countries.

What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments.

  • Easyjet
    easyJet
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    U2/EZY (UK) | EC/EJU (Europe) | DS/EZS (Switzerland)
    Airline Type:
    Low-Cost Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Berlin Brandenburg Airport, Geneva Airport, London Gatwick Airport, London Luton Airport, Milan Malpensa Airport
    Year Founded:
    1995
    CEO:
    Johan Lundgren