SunExpress has started offering Turkey flights from Stansted, providing competition with Pegasus Airlines.
SunExpress, a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, will offer three flights a week to Izmir using Boeing 737 aircraft until March 2024, with the frequency rising to five services a week in the summer.
The summer will also see flights to Antalya, Adana and Gaziantep.
Stansted aviation director Simon Gorrighan said: “With the new SunExpress services starting to Izmir and Antalya, Adana and Gaziantep from next summer, passengers from London and the east of England will have even more options to explore this wonderful country.”
Gorrighan added that Turkey is already one of Stansted’s most popular destinations, with more than 70 weekly flights to Antalya, Ankara, Bodrum, Dalaman, Izmir and Istanbul.
Izmir is Turkey’s third-largest city.