Ryanair Adds Its 1st Türkiye Flights From The UK

Ryanair has revealed its first-ever Türkiye flights from London Stansted and, indeed, the UK. On 1st December, it will inaugurate Bodrum service (twice-weekly). The next day, Dalaman flights will take off (with the same frequency). In both instances, its UK AOC (RK IATA code) will be used for bilateral reasons.

Winter is not an obvious time to begin the routes, but UK winter flights to such places are growing. Between November 2023 and February 2024, London had 57 departures to Bodrum/Dalaman (nearly all to Dalaman). That’s based on examining Cirium data.

A year later and before Ryanair’s additions, 104 take-offs were planned, rising to 155 with the ultra-low-cost carrier’s services. The airline will provide Stansted’s only winter flights to those places (Jet2 ends for the season in November), which was no doubt part of the appeal. A low-season opportunity (especially given how hard winter is to work) or overcapacity from London, reducing yields even more?

Ryanair is no stranger to Türkiye, but its network remains tiny, not least because, unlike Morocco, it does not have EU open skies. It first flew to Türkiye in 2018 from Bratislava and Dublin. Currently, it plans five routes, including the two from the UK.