Al Qassim, Saudi Arabia; Turkish Airlines, has announced the the launch of direct flights from Al Qassim to Istanbul. The airline marked an increase of 66 percent in passenger traffic in the country in the first five months of this year, compared to the same period in 2011. 

The inaugural flight from Istanbul International Airport was welcomed at Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport in Al Qassim by the airport’s representatives with a signing reception attended by civil aviation authority members and guest.

Ziya Taşkent, senior vice president marketing & sales for Turkish Airlines, said: “As part of Turkish Airlines planned expansion in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East we are delighted to be launching direct flights from Al Qassim to Istanbul, connecting over a million residents from the city to more than 220 worldwide destinations.

“This new route has been launched in response to the robust growth in passenger traffic across Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East where our 32 destinations recorded an additional one million passengers in 2012 compared to the previous year, an upward trend we aim to maintain with new routes and increased capacity.”

According to a recent announcement from the Turkish Embassy in Riyadh, Turkey almost doubled the number of Saudi visitors from 2011 – 2012 and aims to increase this to 400,000 in 2013.  

Muhammed Bilal Doner, general manager for Turkish Airlines in Al Qassim, said: “The direct flights from Al Qassim are available just in time for residents to travel directly to Istanbul and beyond destinations for the summer holiday season and enjoy the network that offers connections to every corner of the globe.

“The airline’s new capacity in Saudi will also provide a platform for further business developments with Turkey owing to Al Qassim’s position as a rising city of commerce in the Kingdom.”

The flights from Al Qassim are scheduled four times a week on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.