The story
Istanbul Airlines was founded in Istanbul in December 1985 by private Turkish investors. It commenced operations on March 14, 1986, with two Sud Aviation Caravelle aircraft acquired from the airline SAT Flug and two BAC 1-11s leased from the Romanian airline TAROM.
In its first year, the airline carried 105,122 passengers.
After Istanbul Airlines acquired additional tour operators as customers, including the holiday provider Öger Tours, the fleet was expanded in 1987 with two additional Caravelle aircraft and in 1988 with a Boeing 737-400.
.A batch of leased Boeing 727-200 aircraft were introduced in 1991, gradually replacing the Caravelles, which were out of production since 1972.
During the 1990s, Istanbul Airlines developed into one of Turkey's leading charter airlines and modernized its fleet with leased Boeing 737 and Boeing 757 aircraft.
Following the deregulation of Turkish aviation with many small airlines founded as a result such as Atlasjet, Albatros Airlines, Alfa Airlines, Bosphorus Airways, and Greenair Istanbul Airlines also began operating scheduled flights within Turkey from February 1996.
On August 24, 2000, the airline ceased operations.
From Wikipedia’s article on Istanbul Airlines, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3