Air Europa Launches Flights Between Madrid and Istanbul Starting May 2025

Air Europa will become the second Spanish airline to launch flights to Turkey, connecting Madrid (MAD) and Istanbul (IST) starting May 12, 2025.

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With this new route, it will join Vueling, which links Barcelona (BCN) and Istanbul (IST). Additionally, it will also become the 109th airline to operate at Istanbul International Airport.

Air Europa will break the duopoly of Turkish companies Turkish Airlines and Pegasus in Madrid. Initially, the airline will offer four weekly flights, increasing the frequency to daily starting July 7, 2025. These flights will be operated with Boeing 787-9 aircraft, configured with between 333 and 339 seats, providing a capacity of 4,746 seats per week.

• Flight UX 1683 MAD 09:10 – 13:55 IST
• Flight UX 1684 IST 15:40 – 18:50 MAD

The schedule allows connections with its nineteen destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean, and two in the United States.

The market between Spain and Turkey is largely dominated by Turkish airlines, including Turkish Airlines, Pegasus, and SunExpress, which operate in six Spanish airports. In 2024, up to September, these companies transported 1,521,961 passengers.

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Turkish Airlines flies from Istanbul (IST) to Barcelona (25 weekly flights), Madrid (24), Málaga (14), Valencia (14), and Bilbao (7), making it the leading airline in Spain.

Meanwhile, Pegasus operates from Sabiha Gökçen to Barcelona (10 weekly flights), Madrid (11), and Seville (5). Finally, SunExpress operates weekly flights from Izmir (ADB) to Madrid and Barcelona.