Easyjet’s new route from Gatwick to Antalya is a huge testament to the growth potential of Turkish tourism, and will boost occupancy of holiday rental properties in the area substantially, UK based Turkish property agent Spot Blue has announced.
Director of the company Julian Walker said: “This is the latest in a long line of new flights to Turkey’s tourism hotspots, not only in general with airlines from America to Qatar announcing new routes, but also from Easyjet alone. During the boom times an announcement like this added stars to a holiday rental hotspot on its own.
“Things are different now, but given that Antalya villa owners have earned yields of 6% per year in the last 2-3 years, the addition of new flights can only boost the potential rental income of Antalya properties. It will also increase the likelihood of Turkey hitting its 30million visitor target for this year.”
“Put simply: As long as new flights continue to be announced quicker and more frequent than new commercial hotel spaces, owners of privately rented holiday property in Antalya and other Turkish hotspots can continue to rub their hands together,” Walker added.
From May this year Easyjet will run three weekly flights from Gatwick to Antalya, using new Airbus A320’s due to arrive at the airline’s Gatwick base this spring. The latest delivery taking the total number of Gatwick based aircraft to 41 and increasing the network to 83 routes.
As Antalya airport serves the surrounding area, the new flights will also boost rental incomes of Belek property and property in Side.
Last year Easyjet increased the frequency of its flights to two of Turkey’s other hotspots: Bodrum and Dalaman. At the time Spot Blue said:”New flights are always beneficial, but I think even more-so when it comes to property in Turkey. Last week ABTA [the Association of British Travel Agents] told us that Turkey’s tourism was rising massively from Britain, 20-25% [per year] for the last few years, and 25% expected this year, because it is outside the Euro zone, and because of its improving infrastructure increasing its capacity for tourists. As Turkey’s tourism capacity increases more flights will be needed to continue its growth, so keep them coming Easyjet.”
It is little wonder that Easyjet is focussing so much of its expansion on Turkey, recent data from Anna Aero shows that the volume of air traffic to Turkey from Britain grew 9.4% in 2009, the biggest growth of all global destinations.
Source: Spot Blue