ISTANBUL, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Turkish Airlines THYAO.IS has asked Iran's aviation authority for permission to increase the number of its flights to Iran, the airline's general manager said on Friday, looking to benefit from the lifting of Western sanctions against its neighbour.

"We conduct six flights a day to Tehran, we requested three more," Temel Kotil said at a news conference in Istanbul, adding that the airline had also requested to increase the number of flights to other Iranian destinations as well.

(Reporting by Ceyda Caglayan; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Daren Butler) ((david.dolan@tr.com; +90 212 350 7046; Reuters Messaging: david.dolan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: THY IRAN/