Turkish airline AtlasGlobal began operations Wednesday at Ben-Gurion Airport. It is the third Turkish airline to offer flights from Ben Gurion Airport to Ataturk Airport in Istanbul (preceded by Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines).
Like other Turkish companies operating on the Istanbul-Tel Aviv route, Atlas flights will also be used by Israeli passengers mainly for connecting flights.
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However, unlike Turkish Airlines, which flies to distant destinations such as the United States and the Far East, Atlas’s future destinations focus on Europe (Dusseldorf, Hamburg, London, Milan, Paris, Moscow) and the Arab countries.
The company will currently operate four weekly flights from Ben-Gurion Airport on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday – and will return on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
AtlasGlobal aircraft offer two types of departments: the Tourism Department, which they call the Economy Plus, and the Business Class.
These are not low-cost flights but full-service flights – so the price of the ticket will include food and drink on the plane and a suitcase weighing up to 30 kg, along with a suitcase for up to 8 kg, and a refund in case of cancellation. More over, different changes can be made for a fee – as opposed to the practice of low-cost companies.
A business class flight ticket will allow the passenger to bring a suitcase weighing up to 40 kg and two small hand luggage weighing up to 8 kg each.
The entrance of a third Turkish airline is not surprising given the extensive activity of Turkish and Pegasus in Israel.
Turkish Airlines is the leading foreign airline in Israel and operates nine daily scheduled flights to Istanbul. Pegasus operates three daily flights.
In the first nine months of the year, 740,000 passengers flew from Israel with Turkish – 7.6% more than in the corresponding period last year.
Pegasus flew 453,000 passengers – an increase of 48% compared to the same period last year.
