Türkiye's flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) said on Tuesday that it will launch flights to China’s northwestern Urumqi province.

Turkish Airlines will "start operating scheduled flights to Urumqi in the People's Republic of China, subject to availability and market conditions," the flag carrier said in a statement published on the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) without providing further details.

In December 2024, Istanbul-based Turkish Airlines officially earned a Guinness World Record title for connecting the highest number of countries, with 131 countries.

The flag carrier is also one of the biggest airlines in the world, carrying more than 85 million passengers per year. Its chief executive, Bilal Ekşi, said last month that they would be among the world’s top five airlines by 2033, when the company reaches an aircraft fleet of 813 units.

As of the end of January, Turkish Airlines had a fleet of 522 aircraft.

The company reported earlier on Monday that it carried 7.6 million passengers this January with an 84% load factor.

The total number of passengers climbed 12.4% year-over-year, the airline said in a statement.

The decision to launch the new route to China comes amid a period of closer cooperation with Beijing following the decision last year to lift the number of weekly passenger flights between the two countries from 21 to 49 frequencies.

Turkish Airlines earlier also announced plans to launch additional flights to destinations in China as of last October.

Meanwhile, Ankara has also recently lifted visa requirements for citizens of China, allowing visa-free entry for short-term tourist travel and transit stays of up to 90 days within 180 days.

The move is expected to boost tourist flows between Türkiye and the second most populous nation in the world.