Turkish Airlines is to launch a regular Varna-Istanbul flight as of end-May 2014, according to the press office of Bulgaria's Varna Municipality.

The step was announced Wednesday after a meeting of Varna Mayor Ivan Portnih and Cenk Ocal, head of Turkish Airlines for Bulgaria, according to reports of dnevnik.bg.

The Turkish air carrier plans to conduct the direct flights year-round 4 times a week, according to the press office of the Varna Municipality.

"Turkish Airlines is a leading carrier in Europe, we operate in over 200 countries, and we have the ambition to reach 2000 flights a day," Ocal was quoted as saying after the meeting.

He argued that the new Varna-Istanbul flight would make it possible for Varna to become a bridge to the countries from the Middle and Far East.

Ocal explained that Turkish Airlines would promote the direct flight to Varna for free not only in Turkey but in all of the countries where it functioned.

He vowed that all inflight magazines of the company would provide information about Varna and all major cultural, sports and other events taking place in the Black Sea city.

As of March 30, Serbia's flag carrier, Air Serbia, will also launch flights from Belgrade to Sofia and Varna.

Flights of Air Serbia to Sofia will run every day and flights to Varna will run three times a week. As of June, Belgrade-Varna flights will be conducted on a daily basis.

The flights from Belgrade to Sofia and Varna will be serviced by ATR72 aircraft manufactured by a French-Italian consortium.