Turkish Airlines Breaks into Competitive Vancouver Market

Turkey's flag carrier Turkish Airlines will beef up its flight destinations in Canada by launching flights to Vancouver, in addition to Montreal and Toronto.

Service on the Istanbul-Vancouver route will start on June 9, offered three times a week.

The entry into the highly-competitive Vancouver market comes at a time when YVR is suffering a downturn from the widespread cancellations of flights from China and Hong Kong.

It is understood that Turkish has had its eye on YVR for many years. The service could potentially funnel traffic away from Emirates Airlines daily service to Seattle, which usually has many transit passengers to YVR.

Turkish started to fly to Toronto in 2009 and Montreal in 2014. Vancouver will also be the carrier's 15th destination in North America.

"Introductory round-trip ticket fares from Istanbul to Vancouver will start at $645 with all taxes included," the firm said.

Ilker Ayci, Turkish Airlines' chairman, said: "As one of our primary area of operations, our performance on the American continent is certainly a net positive for us."

Turkish Airlines, established in 1933, currently flies to 319 international and domestic destinations.