Turkish Airlines lands at King Shaka International Airport in Durban

Turkish Airlines has extended two of its Istanbul-Johannesburg flights to include King Shaka International Airport in Durban.

Flights will be on Thursdays and Saturdays with plans to increase these to four weekly flights later this year, depending on passenger uptake.

Currently, Emirates flies five flights a week from Durban directly to Dubai, Qatar Airways flies four direct flights a week, with plans to increase this to five later this month; and now Turkish Airlines brings additional capacity with the reintroduction of flights into Durban.

“The reintroduction of these flights reopens business and tourism opportunities between Istanbul and Durbai; it underpins the resilience of KwaZulu-Natal, its people and leadership to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the implications of the recent destructive flooding have had on the tourism industry.

“This achievement, along with the recent direct Airlink flight to Harare, Zimbabwe, is indicative of the untapped capacity within our destination for air services, as well as the behind-the-scenes work being undertaken by Government and its agencies to bring air connectivity into KwaZulu-Natal,” Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC, Mr Ravi Pillay.

King Shaka International Airport is regarded as the second-fastest recovering international airport in the country, achieving 71.9% of its pre-COVID-19 passenger throughput in the year to date.