Turkish Airlines will make Phuket its second port of call in Thailand with the launch of regular flights starting in July.
The airline is to operate four non-stop flights a week between Istanbul and Phuket beginning July 17 with A330-300 wide-body jets, according to insiders.
It will be the first time in Turkish's 27-year history in Thailand to serve a destination beyond the Thai capital from Istanbul.
Turkish aims for holidaymakers from Europe to fill the seats on board the Airbus A330-300, configured with 28 business-class seats and 261 in economy, on the Istanbul-Phuket route.
The launch of Istanbul-Phuket is timed to take advantage of the European summer holiday season that brings many visitors to the Thai resort, insiders told the Bangkok Post yesterday, in response to suggestions that Turkish's launch date was inappropriate due to the approach of Phuket's rainy season, which runs from May through October.
Critical flight slot constraints at Phuket airport were a major consideration leading Turkish to launch the Istanbul-Phuket service at this time.
Turkish was only able to wrestle early-morning slots at the airport to make its launch possible.
Flight TK172 arrives at Phuket from Istanbul at 4am, with TK173 leaving Phuket for Istanbul at 5:30am.
The airline is expected to launch a marketing campaign to promote the Istanbul-Phuket route a few months before the launch.
The all-inclusive round-trip fare in economy class currently available for booking stands at 37,000 baht.
TK172 leaves Istanbul on Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2.30pm. TK173 departs Phuket on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Sunday at 5.30am.
Turkish operates double daily services between Bangkok and Istanbul with A330-300s.