British Airways launches a new route to Izmir, expands Bodrum and Dalaman

British Airways has launched a new route to Izmir in Turkey.

It is part of a general step-up in Turkey services, with additional flights to Bodrum and Dalaman also added to the system.

Seats are now available for cash or Avios, although only fully flexible Business Class fares to Izmir were available yesterday for cash. The full Avios complement (eight Economy, four Business) was bookable.

Izmir

Izmir, to be fair, is very much a trial. Image above – there are some impressive historical sites here.

Flights will run from 18th May to 28th September.

There will be just one flight per week, departing from Heathrow.

Services will leave at 7.30am every Saturday (arrives 1.30pm) with the return leaving Izmir at 2.35pm to arrive back in London at 4.50pm.

Bodrum

BA has not made an official announcement about Bodrum so I am working off an X post by @SeanM1997.

Looking at SeatSpy, our preferred reward seat finding tool, extra flights seem to have appeared on Wednesday and Sunday throughout the Summer.

This is a Heathrow service.

Dalaman

As above, nothing is official but SeatSpy shows a lot of Avios availability on every Saturday over the summer which implies that this is a newly added flight.

This is also a Heathrow service.

If you move swiftly you should be able to lock in Avios seats for next summer on these routes.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.