SunExpress – the sunny holiday airline

The Turkish Riviera is our home

Foundation and Partnership Structure

SunExpress was founded in October 1989 due to an agreement between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa. Initially started serving Turkish tourism with charter flights, SunExpress carried out its first flight from Frankfurt to Antalya in April 1990. Lufthansa transferred its SunExpress shares to Condor Airlines / Thomas Cook in 1995 in order to gather the entire touristic flights under one roof.

SunExpress has been operating a fleet of 9 airplanes, seat capacity 1698 with an average age of 3.7 years. All Boeing 737-800s leased by SunExpress are all equipped with blended winglets installed by THY Maintenance Center. Antalya based airline’s 10th 737-800 will be delivered in July. 

Passengers, flights

Being the only private airline company, which has scheduled flights from Turkey to abroad, SunExpress has nonstop flights from Antalya to Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Basel. SunExpress serves scheduled flights with its 9 Boeing 737 airplanes from Antalya to the major cities of Germany and 14 capitals of Europe with Lufthansa connections.

Passengers can fly with SunExpress from Antalya to London, Paris, Prag, Brussels, Madrid, Milan, Amsterdam, Zurich, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Moscow, Oslo, Stockholm and Warsaw by taking a connection with Lufthansa in Frankfurt. Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Nurnberg, Dresden, Hanover, and Muenster are among the destinations in Germany that can be reached via Lufthansa connection.

70% of the tourists that SunExpress carries are German. SunExpress also has flights to Austria, Poland, Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Belgium, Sweden, Norway and Slovenia. Researches on new markets are continuing.

Market share

SunExpress has carried 11,060,842 passengers through more than 110,000 flights since its establishment. Sustaining its leadership in Antalya with 9% market share by carrying 1,357,842 passengers in 2004, SunExpress operates a fleet of 9 Boeing 737-800s.

Current Situation

Operating in Antalya for 15 years, SunExpress has continuous contribution for Antalya’s improvement. Connecting Antalya to Europe with its scheduled flights to Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Basel, SunExpress is among the top tax paying companies.

SunExpress also have ISO 9001:2000 quality, ISO 14001: 1996 environmental and OHSAS 18001:1999 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems certificates, which covers new generation Boeing 737 airline operations, maintenance and Type Rating training requirements.

In 2005 SunExpress started using electronic tickets.

SunExpress supported Golden Orange Foundation, Antalya Piano Festival, Antalya Arts Festival, and Antalya Athletics Sport Club in order to contribute to the social and cultural life of Antalya.

The largest employer of Antalya with its staff of 528 people, 328 of which are flight crews
aims to develop its success in 2005.

Fleet Details