ISTANBUL: Turkish Airlines has now added Samara to its extensive international network, with the Star Alliance member beginning three times weekly (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) flights from Istanbul Atatürk (IST).
Inaugurated on 11 April, the Turkish flag carrier will serve the 2,115-kilometre sector on its 737-800s according to OAG schedules, with Atlas global providing the direct competition with its twice-weekly operation. Onur Air is set to become the third carrier to connect the two airports in May.
With this launch, Turkish now serves 10 cities in Russia with 62 weekly flights, with Samara joining Ekaterinurg, Kazan, Moscow Vnokovo, Rostov-on-Don, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Stavropol, Ufa and Voronezh on the carrier’s route map. Samara was Russia’s 12th busiest airport in 2016 handling 2.1 million passengers, a drop of 5% compared with 2015. Other European flag carriers to serve the airport are Aeroflot, Czech Airlines and Finnair.
