Examines the contradictory effects of low-cost carriers on regional tourism demand and environmental sustainability through the case of Cappadocia. Low-cost carriers increase destination accessibility through lower fares, higher service frequency and point-to-point networks, creating an important economic opportunity for inland destinations where tourism demand is highly dependent on-air connectivity. However, increased air mobility also raises concerns regarding carbon emissions, local environmental pressures, visitor concentration and carrying capacity. The study evaluates the total passenger traffic of Kayseri Erkilet (ASR) and Nevşehir Kapadokya (NAV) airports together with visitor statistics representing tourism demand in Cappadocia and passenger-kilometre-based estimated carbon emissions. The effect of low-cost carriers is not measured as a direct airline-level causal effect; rather, airport-level passenger traffic is used as an indirect proxy for regional air accessibility. Due to the extraordinary disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 and 2021 are excluded from the main trend analysis, while 2024 and 2025 are interpreted within the scope of trend-based assessment. The findings indicate a parallel upward trend between air passenger traffic and tourism demand, while estimated carbon emissions also increase over the same period. This result suggests that the low-cost carrier model may generate accessibility benefits for regional tourism while simultaneously creating environmental and managerial costs for sustainable tourism governance.