Türkiye’s low-cost airline AJet, a subsidiary of flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY), is launching flights from the Turkish capital, Ankara, to Spain’s Madrid and Barcelona, the chairperson of the board of Turkish Airlines, Ahmet Bolat, said on Wednesday.
AJet's Ankara-Madrid flights, which began on Oct. 23, 2025, will operate three days a week: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
The airlines’ Ankara-Barcelona flights, which will begin on Oct. 24, 2025, will operate four days a week: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
With the new destinations added to flights from the Turkish capital, AJet will be promoting Ankara and the surrounding region, encompassing 15 provinces, internationally through the ANKARA+ project, Bolat said on Oct. 22 in a press conference held in Ankara.
“We ensure that tourists visiting Ankara have unique experiences in surrounding destinations after their stay in the capital,” Bolat added.
Bolat said that the project aims to position Ankara as a tourism destination via AJet as an arrival destination, where they can also visit and experience the historical and natural beauties in the surrounding region by road.
“For example, regional development and promotion will be supported with fıve-day packages designed for a target audience focused on history, culture and adventure, such as two days in Ankara and three days in Cappadocia,” Bolat said.
The chairperson added that the project will be aiming to create an ecosystem, which will enable all cities in the region to have a share in the tourism sector.
In addition, the new project will integrate the substantially higher education and health sector in the Turkish capital to attract more international visitors.
The budget-friendly AJet operates Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport and Ankara Esenboğa Airport to a total of 101 destinations in 34 countries, 60 international and 41 domestic. From Esenboğa Airport in Ankara, the airline operates to 35 different cities in 26 countries. So far in 2025, AJet has added new flights from Ankara to Tbilisi, Cairo, Damascus, Barcelona and Madrid to its network.
“We are implementing a visionary project called Ankara Plus with Turkish Airlines. With Ankara Plus, we are promoting Ankara, central Anatolia and 11 surrounding provinces internationally as tourism destinations. Data indicates that Ankara and its surrounding provinces could attract 14 million tourists. This represents significant potential for regional tourism,” said AJet CEO Kerem Sarp during the event for the launch of new flights from Ankara on Oct. 22.
“To highlight this potential in Ankara and its surrounding area, we regularly conduct promotional, advertising and influencer projects,” Sarp added.
Speaking on the AJet fleet, Sarp added that new-generation aircraft will be added to the inventory.
“As a low-cost airline, we are rapidly adding new-generation aircraft to our fleet. Since August, we've added six ex-factory Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft to our fleet. We currently operate with 86 aircraft. Our fleet will consist of 70% new-generation aircraft by the end of 2026. By 2028, 85% of our fleet will consist of new-generation aircraft, and by 2033, the entire fleet will consist of new-generation aircraft,” he added.
AJet will also add Iraq’s Irbil and Baghdad as destinations from Ankara by the end of 2025. The airline is also planning to add nine cities in five new countries to join the flight network from Ankara by the end of 2026.
