The carrier’s first Manchester flight took off on Wednesday (1 May).

Flights from Stansted and Glasgow start on Thursday (2 May), Newcastle on Friday (3 May) and Birmingham and Leeds Bradford next Wednesday (8 May).

In total, Jet2.com will operate eight weekly flights to Izmir this summer, amounting to 80,000 seats.

The region is Jet2’s fourth destination in Turkey, complementing Antalya, Bodrum and Dalaman.

It comes amid efforts by both of Jet2’s largest package holiday rivals, Tui and Thomas Cook, to continue making inroads in Turkey as the country bounces back.

Thomas Cook’s 2019 Holiday Report placed Turkey its second most popular destination for summer 2019.

Tui, meanwhile, has added an extra 45,000 Turkey seats to its summer 2020 programme while securing a number of property exclusives, as well as opening this week its fifth Magic Life resort in Turkey.

Steve Heapy, Jet2.com and Jet2holidays chief executive, said: “Today marks the start of flights and holidays to the sunshine hotspot of Izmir in Turkey, and we were delighted to wave customers off from Manchester airport on the inaugural flight.

“With flights and holidays operating from six of our nine UK bases this summer, Izmir is shaping up to be an incredibly popular destination, and we are looking forward to a bright future in this fantastic region.”