The airline, which was founded as a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa will launch the route from July 11, 2015, operating twice weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays, using one of the airline’s Boeing 737 aircraft.

“With London as a new destination, SunExpress continues its growth path in Europe connecting important metropolitan areas with Izmir, our hub in Turkey. We are very happy to have London Luton as a new partner to continue expanding our network as a holiday carrier,” said Manuel Schürholz, sales and marketing manager at SunExpress.

As well as the historic city of Izmir, Kusadasi, Cesme, Alacti and Altinkum will be within easy reach and as Turkey’s third largest city, Izmir will prove a popular destination with business travellers.

London Luton Airport’s business development manager Simon Harley said: “We look forward to welcoming SunExpress to London Luton Airport and adding Izmir to our extensive list of destinations. Our strategy to increase passenger numbers is based on providing customers with choice, great value and convenience. Introducing new routes and new carriers is all part of our ambitious redevelopment programme.”

SunExpress, headquartered in Antalya was founded in 1989, and has carried approximately seven million passengers to over 90 destinations on both scheduled and charter flights. Izmir has become the airline’s main hub, and flies to 43 destinations from the airport.

Izmir will be the first destination for the airline operating from London Luton, which is one of the UK’s largest airports. London Luton carried 9.7 million passengers in 2013, and offers over 100 destinations.