According to the news source of Turkey's tourism sector, tourism news Center, the first flight from London Heathrow Airport to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (ISG) with British Airways, the flag carrier airline of the UK, took place on Thursday, June 1. Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft will be used on the SAW-LHR line flights, which will be operated 4 times a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
In honor of Sabiha Gökçen, the world's first female fighter pilot, british airways assigned an all-female cabin crew, including Captain Pilot Jessica Telford and Co-Pilot Kerry Bennett, for the first flight. Stating that they find this gesture of British Airways very meaningful, Berk Albayrak, CEO of Sabiha Gökçen Airport, said that this flight draws attention to the presence of women in the sector. "Our first LHR-SAW flight was an inspiring example for women to have a greater presence in the aviation industry," Albayrak said, emphasizing that they strive to employ more women in aviation.
Stating that thanks to this cooperation, Sabiha Gökçen passengers will be able to benefit from British Airways' extensive global route network, Berk Albayrak said:
''Sabiha Gökçen serves 154 destinations in 51 countries, 115 international and 39 domestic routes. Thanks to the cooperation, we are now in a position to provide connections to more than 200 destinations of British Airways in 65 countries via London Heathrow. When British Airways' service quality and large fleet are added to this connectivity infrastructure, we expect the SAW-LHR route to make a great contribution to the tourism sector. We broke a record with 35.5 million passengers in 2019 and our 2023 figures are very good after the pandemic. We closed the first 5 months of 2023 with approximately 14 million passengers. In March, we ranked among the 10 busiest airports in Europe. We maintain our domestic position as 'Turkey's 2nd busiest airport'."
154 destinations in 51 countries with 3 new routes
ISG, which has recently added 3 new routes to its flight destinations, started to provide services to London Heathrow Airport with British Airways and to Rhodes and Lesbos airports in Greece with Pegasus Airlines as of June. Thus, the number of destinations to which ISG provides transportation in 51 countries with 45 airlines has reached 154. Sabiha Gökçen, the 2nd busiest airport in Turkey and the 9th busiest airport in Europe and one of the 8 most earthquake resistant buildings in the world, is the busiest single runway and single terminal airport in the world with its 320 thousand square meter integrated terminal and 41 million passenger capacity.
