Turkish Airlines returns to London Stansted after more than a decade

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Turkish Airlines returns to London Stansted after more than a decade

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Turkish Airlines | Official Website

By Sky Industry News

Jul 4, 2025

Next March, Turkish Airlines will resume flights between its Istanbul Airport hub and London Stansted. This addition marks the airline's sixth UK airport, joining its existing services to Heathrow and Gatwick. The announcement follows Royal Air Maroc's recent inauguration of flights to a third London-area airport.

Turkish Airlines previously operated at Stansted from 2005 to 2009 when Atatürk was Istanbul's main airport. After leaving Stansted, the airline switched to Gatwick in 2011. Meanwhile, AnadoluJet (now AJet) began service from Sabiha Gökçen to Stansted in 2010. The gap left by Turkish Airlines' departure allowed Atlas, now defunct, to start flights from Atatürk to Stansted in 2012.

The airline will return to London's third-busiest airport by passenger traffic on March 18, 2026. Initially operating ten weekly flights, the frequency will increase to fourteen weekly on March 29 as airlines transition to summer schedules based on IATA slot seasons.

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"Examining all the flag carrier's Istanbul-London flights in the 20+ years to December 2025 shows it has never had more than 11 daily departures," according to the release. This number is set to change in 2026 with up to fourteen daily services from London's capital.

British Airways operates between Heathrow and Istanbul Airport, while Wizz Air serves the Turkish airport from Gatwick and Luton. Combined with Turkish Airlines' new schedule, these carriers will offer up to nineteen daily services next April.

Sabiha Gökçen on the Asian side of Bosphorus is served by AJet and Pegasus at Stansted, while BA operates from Heathrow. Neither BA nor Pegasus has finalized their Sabiha Gökçen schedules for next April; however, assuming they remain unchanged from April 2025, London-Istanbul could see up to twenty-seven daily flights.

Analysis of booking data reveals that approximately a third of British Airways' passengers connect through Heathrow with New York JFK as a leading destination. For AJet on Stansted-Sabiha Gökçen routes, Gaziantep is popular among connecting passengers. Sixty-four percent of Turkish Airlines passengers transfer elsewhere from Heathrow/Gatwick with Antalya being a significant destination despite numerous nonstop options. Finally, about sixty-seven percent of Pegasus' traffic transits through Ercan in Northern Cyprus.