Turkish Airlines is to launch three weekly flights from Istanbul to Malta this summer.

The service, with Air Malta’s current twice-weekly flights, would boost the number of air seats on the Malta-Istanbul route to more than 41,000 a year rather than the current 16,000, Tourism Minister Mario de Marco said.

Malta International Airport CEO Markus Klaushofer had words of praise for the airline, describing it as an “outstanding product” and a “top quality carrier”.

The new operation was a result of collaboration with the airport, the tourism authority and the Government to maintain a healthy business mix of legacy airlines and low-cost and charter operators, he said.

Attracting one of the “leading European legacy carriers” to Malta further increased the island’s accessibility.

“The tourism and business travel potential of such a connection will indeed increase the positioning of Malta as a credible offer in the global travel trade,” Mr Klaushofer said.

Dr de Marco reiterated that accessibility was crucial and spoke about the need to increase the network of airlines flying to the island. Passenger movements increased by 23 per cent over the past five years and the average load factor – the percentage of booked seats – rose to 79 per cent from 70 per cent, Dr de Marco said.

These were “very attractive figures” for airlines interested in flying to Malta, he added.

Ranked as the Best Airline in Europe for the second consecutive year in the Skytrax World Airline Awards, Turkish Airlines was the world’s number one carrier in terms of destination countries, Turkish Airlines representative, Muhammed Soner Aydin, said.

The flights will be operated on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, linking Malta to the worldwide network of Turkish Airlines, which forms part of Star Alliance, and flies to 217 cities and 219 airports.

More details at www.thy.com.