Flights between Manchester and Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport will get under way on 1 July, it has been confirmed.

Outbound flights will depart Manchester at 12.40pm, arriving into Istanbul at 6.50pm.

Returns will depart Istanbul at 9.30am, arriving into Manchester at 11.55am.

Pegasus will operate the route on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The route complements Pegasus’s existing four-times daily Stansted-Istanbul service.

Onward connections from Istanbul include Bahrain, Beirut and Sharjah. The route will also provide connectivity with domestic flights across Turkey.

Fares lead in from £79.99 one-way.

“The route will offer the 22 million people in our vast catchment area additional connectivity and access to Turkey and beyond,” said Julian Carr, Manchester airport aviation director.

“I’m sure it will prove incredibly popular and look forward to the route taking off in July.”

Guliz Ozturk, Pegasus chief executive, added: “[The] UK is among our key markets in Europe and we’re confident these new flights will be warmly welcomed by our future guests in northern England.

“We are delighted to extend our operations to an additional key region of the country, giving our UK guests more choice and flexibility when planning their travels.

"We hope to attract more guests who will enjoy travelling to Istanbul and the exciting destinations beyond, both within Turkey and elsewhere in our network always at our affordable fares."