Pegasus Airlines has launched a new direct flight for summer 2011 to Izmir on Turkey’s Aegean coast from London Stansted.

These new direct flights, which run four times a week on Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, promise to open up Turkey’s Aegean coast to city-breakers, holidaymakers, intrepid travellers and the business community like never before.

City breaks, sporty beach resorts, ancient sites, business venues – Izmir has them all.

The vibrant and cosmopolitan port city of Izmir is the hub of the western Aegean region renowned for its beautiful coastal towns, sea-inspired cuisine, natural hot mineral springs and olive groves.

The city itself is of interest for its archaeological museums, university botanical garden and an atmospheric waterfront with both bars and teahouses where the locals enjoy promenading.

Izmir is also popular for its convenience for excursions to the world-famous ancient archaeological sites of Ephesus, Didyma and Perge.

Coastal resorts just a short drive away including Foca, Cesme and the pretty village of Alacati offer pristine beaches, with the latter big on the international watersports scene.

As Turkey’s second largest city, Izmir is a major hub of business and enterprise providing state-of-the-art fair, conference and meeting facilities - both within existing luxury hotel complexes and independent custom-made facilities - and being particularly active in shipping and ports as well as being the main industrial base for the whole of the Aegean region. So the city makes an attractive choice for that all-important business event.