Customers boarded the inaugural SunExpress flight to Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city, from Birmingham Airport (BHX).

In addition to its new twice-weekly Izmir rotations, from Monday SunExpress increases its service to Antalya to daily and Dalman to three times a week.

Peter Glade, SunExpress Commercial Director, said: “Our guests from Birmingham will enjoy flying to Izmir, the ‘Pearl of the Aegean’, with the best leisure airline in the world. A true treasure trove of culture and gastronomy, combined with great beaches on the Aegean coast make for an unforgettable getaway this summer.

“With our increased capacity from Birmingham to Turkish Riviera, we continue to increase our footprint further in the UK.”

Tom Screen, BHX Aviation Director, added: “The expansion of SunExpress here at BHX comes as a further vote of confidence for us as an airport and for the West Midlands region. Today we celebrate both their inaugural flight to Izmir, as well as increased services on Antalya and Dalaman. We look forward to strengthening our partnership with SunExpress further in the next few months.”