A new daily flight from Stansted will open up popular destinations in the Middle East for people living in the East of England, the airport says.

Turkish full service carrier Atlasglobal launched a new daily flight to Istanbul from Stansted on Sunday, offering onward connecting flights to northern Cyprus, Dubai, Doha in Qatar and more than 35 other destinations.

Mark Souter, head of aviation development at Stansted, said: “We are delighted to welcome Atlasglobal as the latest airline to join us at London Stansted. I am sure this will be a popular route for the Turkish expat community living in north and East London.

“It will also give both business and leisure passengers from the region access to the airline’s extensive route network from its Istanbul hub.”

Atlasglobal is transferring flights to Stansted from Luton, where it has been operating since 2014.

Tuna Tunca, the airline’s head of sales and marketing, said: “It has been a strategic decision to start flying from London Stansted to Istanbul Ataturk and we feel very positive about this move.”