SunExpress - Press Releases

March 07, 2024

SunExpress extends its partnership model: Agreement signed with Electra Airways for sales partnership as of 2025

Frankfurt am Main/Berlin, March 8, 2024 – SunExpress, a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, and Electra Airways, the leading European charter airline based in Sofia (Bulgaria), signed a three-year sales partnership agreement on March 7 at the world's largest tourism trade fair.

August 11, 2023

SunExpress is named the World’s Best Leisure Airline at the 2022 World Airline Awards

SunExpress has been named the World’s Best Leisure Airline at the prestigious World Airline Awards, held at the historic Langham Hotel in London. It is the first time in the award’s history that the Antalya-based carrier, a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, has been voted by customers as the World’s Best Leisure Airline after many years of featuring in the top 10 global leisure airlines.

August 11, 2023

“We help together” airlift for earthquake victims: first pure freighter flight by SunExpress takes off

Frankfurt am Main, February 21, 2023 – Continuous transport of relief supplies for the earthquake victims: yesterday, Monday, the first dedicated freighter flight by SunExpress of the “We help together” initiative took off for Antalya with around ten tons of urgently needed relief supplies.

August 11, 2023

SunExpress supports relief efforts in Türkiye with evacuation and cargo transportation

London, 17th February, 2023 – In the wake of the devastating earthquakes, SunExpress, a joint venture of Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, has operated 236 relief flights in order to bring rescue and medical staff to the emergency regions as quickly as possible. Over 5,600 rescue workers and medical personnel have been transported. Additionally, the airline has already evacuated nearly 12,500 people affected by the earthquake.

August 11, 2023

SunExpress is named Best Leisure Airline in Europe

SunExpress has been named Best Leisure Airline in Europe at the World Airline Awards 2023. Max Kownatzki, the CEO of SunExpress, said: “This award is a testament to the quality of the product and service standards we offer to our customers. It is a source of great pleasure for us to see that this award is based on direct feedback from passengers, and that our guests appreciate the devoted work of all our teams on this occasion.

August 11, 2023

SunExpress continues to increase its footprint in UK

London, June 2023 – Leisure airline SunExpress, a joint venture of Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, has announced that it will expand its flight portfolio from the United Kingdom to add Leeds-Bradford to its route network for the summer 2024 season.

August 11, 2023

SunExpress expands reach in UK with additional seats and two new direct routes from Newcastle and Bristol to Turkey for Summer 2023

London, September, 2022 – Leisure airline SunExpress, a joint venture of Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, has announced that it will expand its flight portfolio from the United Kingdom to add Newcastle and Bristol to its route network for the summer 2023 season. Addtionally, to meet the continued robust demand for leisure travel, it’s increased capacity for the UK market by adding an additional 10,000 seats in September and October.

August 11, 2023

Over seven million passengers carried year-to-date: SunExpress increases capacity for September and October and expands UK footprint

Frankfurt am Main/Antalya, September, 2022 – SunExpress, a joint venture of Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, has carried over seven million passengers on its flights since the beginning of the year with an average seat load factor of 86 percent. This represents a twofold increase in passenger numbers compared to the same period last year.

July 21, 2021

SunExpress Board of Directors extends CEO Max Kownatzki’s term

SunExpress, a joint venture of Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa announced that the Board of Directors extended Max Kownatzki as Chief Executive Officer of SunExpress for an indefinite term. Kownatzki joined the leisure airline as CEO in April 2020.