AnadoluJet (Ankara Esenboga) will expand its network of international flights out of Istanbul Sabiha Gökcen during the Summer 2020 season, parent Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Airport) said in a stock market disclosure.
Although a Turkish Airlines stock exchange filing touted the "launch" of international flights from Istanbul Sabiha Gökcen, AnadoluJet already operates a single international route from the gateway, located on the Asian side of Istanbul, to Lefkosa/Ercan in Northern Cyprus, a breakaway self-governing part of Cyprus which is recognised as independent only by Turkey. The route is served 22x weekly.
A division of Turkish Airlines, AnadoluJet's international network also includes services from Ankara Esenboga, Adana, Antalya, Gaziantep, Hatay, and Izmir Adnan Menderes to Lefkosa/Ercan; and from Gaziantep to Erbil. AnadoluJet predominantly operates domestic routes from its bases at Sabiha Gökcen and Ankara, as well as a limited number of domestic point-to-point routes bypassing either of the main hubs.
AnadoluJet does not currently serve Istanbul Airport.
According to the ch-aviation capacities module, Turkish Airlines itself, excluding AnadoluJet's flights to Lefkosa/Ercan, operates 137 weekly international departures out of Sabiha Gökcen, serving a total of 25 destinations in Europe, the Caucasus, and the Middle East.
AnadoluJet, which does not have its own Air Operator's Certificate (AOC), deploys nineteen B737-800s chartered from Turkish Airlines and fourteen operated by SunExpress (XQ, Antalya). It is also in the process of adding a further six aircraft of the type (three ex-Ryanair and three ex-Norwegian), which will be operated by Turkish Airlines, the ch-aviation fleets module shows.
