HOLIDAY airline Thomas Cook is to base another aircraft at Birmingham Airport from next year and add new flights to Turkey and two other destinations, it has revealed.

The company says the move will enable it to offer 47,000 more seats and holidays from the West Midlands gateway, the area’s Express and Star said.

From next summer Thomas Cook will start flying from Birmingham to Mytilene and Kalamata in Greece and Djerba in Tunisia.

It will also offer daily flights to Dalaman in Turkey and increase the number of flights to Zante, Mahon, Bodrum, Antalya, Izmir, Bourgas and Fuerteventura.

To carry the extra passengers and run the additional flights,Thomas Cook Airlines will upgrade its fleet of three Boeing 757s at Birmingham for a trio of Airbus A321 aircraft, and add an Airbus A320.

Over the last few months, Thomas Cook Airlines has added six new Airbus A321 aircraft to its UK fleet, and this is set to continue in 2015 with three further deliveries from Airbus as part of the 25 aircraft being delivered to the Thomas Cook by 2016.

With the airline’s new fleet based at airports across the UK , Birmingham Airport is also set to become a base featuring the new aircraft in the airlines new Sunny Heart livery.

Rob Thompson, Thomas Cook Airline’s director of planning, said, “With increasing demand from holidaymakers for regional departures, it’s great news for travellers from the Midlands as we add more flexibility and choice with flights and holidays from Birmingham Airport.

“As a base that will include one of our new aircraft, we’re convinced that our customers will love the new comfort and reliability offered by our new fleet.”

Ryanair and Turkey

Ryanair is looking at launching budget flights to new markets such as Turkey as part of its drive to grow passenger numbers.

The airline wants to attract more business travellers, groups and families to increase passenger numbers to 110 million by 2019.

New head of corporate travel and groups Lesley Kane said the airline was already talking to several airports in new destinations about the launch of services in the near future.

It has ordered 175 new aircraft, the first of which will be delivered in September, which will be used to service new routes.

“We are talking to new airports, a lot of which are key business airports, some of which are in totally new markets which are actively looking to encourage Ryanair to fly there,” said Kane