SunExpress

SunExpress, is a Turkish-German airline based in Antalya.[1] SunExpress was founded in October 1989 as a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa. It operates scheduled and chartered passenger flights to 90 destinations in 30 countries in Europe as well as North Africa, the Mediterranean, Black Sea, and Red Sea.[2] The airline concentrates on international tourism, domestic Turkish flights to cities in Anatolia, and wet leasing. The total number of SunExpress employees is 5,000.

SunExpress
IATA ICAO Callsign
XQ SXS SUNEXPRESS
Founded1989 (1989)
Hubs
Frequent-flyer programSunExpress your benefits
Fleet size53
Destinations66
Parent companyTurkish Airlines (50%)
Lufthansa Group (50%)
HeadquartersAntalya, Turkey
Key people
  • Max Kownatzki, CEO
  • Ahmet Fevzi Çalışkan, Deputy CEO
Employees5,000
Websitewww.sunexpress.com

History

SunExpress Boeing 737-800 in the old livery
SunExpress Boeing 737-800 in special livery to celebrate the 20th anniversary

SunExpress was founded in Antalya in October 1989 as a joint venture of Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa. Its first flight was in 1990.

SunExpress became the first private airline company to offer international scheduled flights from Turkey with its first Antalya-Frankfurt flight in 2001. SunExpress opened its second base in İzmir and started to operate domestic flights in 2006. With this launch, SunExpress became the first airline company to connect İzmir with Anatolian cities with direct flights in Turkey.

In May 2010, SunExpress took delivery of the first of six newly purchased Boeing 737-800s and launched its new corporate identity including its new logo, aircraft livery, new corporate colours, uniforms and visual identity elements.

SunExpress Deutschland GmbH was founded in 2011. The company started business operations in June 2011. Besides the Turkish destinations on the South Coast, on the Aegean, on the Black Sea and in the East of the country, it also serves – with German registration – destinations along the Mediterranean, Black Sea, North Africa and Red Sea.

SunExpress decided to invest in its building and SunExpress Plaza was built in June 2012. The new company building is environmental friendly, and is located in a natural setting. The architectural theme of the building is transparency and naturalness; therefore each room has been designed so that it has access to natural light and fresh air. The sun is a source for clean energy inside the building. The solar panels on the roof generate enough electricity to supply power to all of the computers. On the exterior of the building, “smart” glass panels have been used to allow sun rays to shine inside the building while blocking out unwanted heat to help reduce cooling costs. Orange, bergamot, and lemon trees have been planted in both the interior and exterior gardens. The building consists of 1 basement and 4 floors which house 250 SunExpress employees in 87 offices. There are several special category spaces incorporating meeting, briefing, training, storage, and various special operation rooms. The building also hosts common archive room, a stationary flight simulator room and a general purpose auditorium.

On 23 June 2020, it has been announced that SunExpress' German subsidiary SunExpress Deutschland would cease operations and be liquidated.[3] Its route network would be partially taken over by SunExpress and Eurowings.[4]

Destinations

SunExpress serves the following destinations as of August 2023:[5]

Country City Airport Notes Refs
AlbaniaTiranaTirana International AirportBegins 4 June 2024[6]
AustriaGrazGraz AirportBegins 2 April 2024[7]
ViennaVienna International Airport
BelgiumBrusselsBrussels Airport
BulgariaSofiaSofia AirportSeasonal[8]
Czech RepublicPragueVáclav Havel Airport Prague[9]
DenmarkAalborgAalborg AirportSeasonal
BillundBillund AirportSeasonal
CopenhagenCopenhagen AirportSeasonal
EgyptSharm El SheikhSharm El Sheikh International Airport[10]
FinlandHelsinkiHelsinki AirportSeasonal[11]
FranceLyonLyon–Saint-Exupéry AirportSeasonal
MarseilleMarseille Provence AirportSeasonal
ParisCharles de Gaulle Airport
GermanyBerlinBerlin Brandenburg Airport[12]
BremenBremen Airport
Cologne/BonnCologne Bonn Airport[13]
DortmundDortmund Airport
DresdenDresden AirportSeasonal[14]
DüsseldorfDüsseldorf Airport[15]
Erfurt/WeimarErfurt–Weimar AirportTerminated[14]
FrankfurtFrankfurt Airport
FriedrichshafenFriedrichshafen AirportTerminated[16][14]
HamburgHamburg Airport
HanoverHannover Airport
Karlsruhe/Baden-BadenKarlsruhe/Baden-Baden AirportTerminated[14]
Leipzig/HalleLeipzig/Halle Airport
MemmingenMemmingen AirportTerminated[17][14]
MunichMunich Airport[18]
Münster/OsnabrückMünster Osnabrück Airport
NurembergNuremberg Airport
Paderborn/LippstadtPaderborn Lippstadt Airport[19]
SaarbrückenSaarbrücken Airport
StuttgartStuttgart Airport[20]
WeezeWeeze AirportTerminated[21]
HungaryBudapestBudapest Ferenc Liszt International AirportSeasonal
IraqErbilErbil International AirportSeasonal[22]
IrelandDublinDublin Airport[23]
IsraelTel AvivBen Gurion AirportSeasonal[8]
ItalyMilanoMilan Malpensa Airport[24]
RomeLeonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino AirportBegins 4 June 2024[25]
KosovoPristinaPristina International AirportBegins 3 June 2024[26]
LebanonBeirutBeirut–Rafic Hariri International AirportSeasonal[8]
MoldovaChișinăuChișinău International AirportTerminated[22]
MontenegroPodgoricaPodgorica International AirportBegins 4 June 2024[27]
NetherlandsAmsterdamAmsterdam Airport Schiphol
EindhovenEindhoven AirportSeasonal
North Macedonia SkopjeSkopje International Airport
NorwayOsloOslo Airport, GardermoenSeasonal
PolandKatowiceKatowice Airport
WarsawWarsaw Chopin AirportSeasonal[28]
RomaniaBucharestHenri Coandă International AirportResumes 6 May 2024[29]
RussiaSaint PetersburgPulkovo AirportTerminated[30]
SloveniaLjubljanaLjubljana AirportTerminated[8]
SpainMadridMadrid–Barajas AirportBegins 3 June 2024[31]
SwedenGothenburgGöteborg Landvetter AirportTerminated
StockholmStockholm Arlanda AirportSeasonal
SwitzerlandBaselEuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg
GenevaGeneva AirportSeasonal[22]
ZürichZürich Airport
TurkiyeAdanaAdana Şakirpaşa Airport
AnkaraAnkara Esenboğa Airport
AntalyaAntalya AirportHub
BodrumMilas–Bodrum AirportSeasonal
DalamanDalaman AirportSeasonal
DiyarbakırDiyarbakır Airport[32]
ElazığElazığ AirportSeasonal
EskişehirHasan Polatkan Airport
ErzurumErzurum Airport
GaziantepGaziantep Oğuzeli Airport[33]
HatayHatay Airport[34]
Izmirİzmir Adnan Menderes AirportHub
KarsKars Harakani Airport
KayseriErkilet International Airport
KonyaKonya Airport
KütahyaZafer AirportSeasonal
MalatyaMalatya Erhaç Airport[35]
SamsunSamsun-Çarşamba Airport[36]
TrabzonTrabzon Airport
VanVan Ferit Melen Airport
ZonguldakZonguldak AirportSeasonal[22]
UkraineKyivBoryspil International AirportTerminated[8]
United Arab EmiratesAbu DhabiAbu Dhabi International Airport[37]
DubaiDubai International Airport
United KingdomBirminghamBirmingham Airport
BristolBristol Airport
EdinburghEdinburgh Airport[38]
Leeds/BradfordLeeds Bradford AirportBegins 31 March 2024[39]
LondonGatwick Airport[22]
Luton AirportEnds 29 October 2023[40]
London Stansted AirportBegins 29 October 2023[41][42]
ManchesterManchester Airport[22]
Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle Airport
UzbekistanSamarqandSamarkand International AirportBegins 12 November 2023[43]

Fleet

SunExpress Boeing 737-800

As of 20th August 2023, the SunExpress fleet consists of the following aircraft:[44][45]

Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
Airbus A320-200 7 180 Operated by Avion Express, seasonal summer lease aircraft
Boeing 737-800 49 189
Boeing 737 MAX 8 11[46] 32[47][48][49] 189
Total 67 32

Special Liveries

SunExpress currently has five special liveries:

Airplane Type Aircraft Registration Livery Image
Boeing 737-800 TC-SEU World´s Best Leisure Airline
Boeing 737-800 TC-SNU Shaun the Sheep - Farmageddon
Boeing 737-800 TC-SPC Eintracht Frankfurt
Boeing 737-800 TC-SPE PAW Patrol: The Movie
Boeing 737-800 TC-SOZ Impressions of Istanbul by SunExpress

References

  1. "Imprint." SunExpress. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  2. "Company Profile".
  3. "aviation24.be". Aviation24.be. 2020-06-23.
  4. aerotelegraph.com (German) 23 June 2020
  5. "Flight Connections Winter 2019/2020". SunExpress. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  6. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  7. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  8. Liu, Jim. "SunExpress S21 network additions as of 11OCT20". Routesonline. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  9. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  10. "SunExpress Adds Antalya – Sharm el Sheikh Service From Sep 2023". AeroRoutes. 27 July 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  11. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  12. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  13. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  14. https://www.aerotelegraph.com/haette-gerne-noch-mehr-kapazitaet-draufgelegt
  15. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  16. https://www.airliners.de/sunexpress-friedrichshafen-antalya/51276
  17. https://web.archive.org/web/20220701190628/https://www.memmingen-airport.de/neue-strecke-nach-antalya-mit-sunexpress-gestartet/
  18. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  19. https://web.archive.org/web/20211023231847/http://www.tourexpi.com/de-tr/news/mit-sunexpress-nach-antalya-175709.html
  20. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  21. https://www.aerotelegraph.com/niederlaendische-steuererhoehung-befluegelt-flughafen-weeze
  22. "SunExpress Announces 2021 Summer Program". ftnnews.com. 23 February 2021.
  23. "SunExpress's Izmir Dublin Flights Restart". Railly News. 9 September 2021. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  24. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  25. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  26. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  27. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  28. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  29. https://boardingpass.ro/sunexpress-va-relua-zborurile-regulate-dintre-bucuresti-si-antalya-in-2024/
  30. "SunExpress plans new routes in S18". routesonline.com. 16 November 2017.
  31. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  32. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  33. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  34. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  35. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  36. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  37. "SUNEXPRESS ADDS ABU DHABI SERVICE FROM SEP 2023". Aeroroutes. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  38. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  39. https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/leeds-bradford-gains-new-sunexpress-route
  40. "Route network - SunExpress". Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  41. https://www.sunexpress.com/en/
  42. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230925-xqns24
  43. "SunExpress Schedules Samarqand mid-Nov 2023 Launch". AeroRoutes. 25 September 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  44. "Fleet". sunexpress.com.
  45. "SunExpress Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  46. "SunExpress Takes Delivery of Its First Boeing 737 MAX". 8 December 2021.
  47. Perry, Dominic. "DUBAI: SunExpress tops up Max orders with 10-unit deal". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  48. "SunExpress places order for 50 Boeing aircraft". reuters.com. 19 February 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  49. "Boeing Inks New Deal With SunExpress Worth Billions". fool.com. 19 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.

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