SunExpress
SunExpress is a Turkish airline based in Antalya. 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. 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.
Key facts
History
Foundation and early years
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.
Development since 2010
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 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.
On 23 June 2020, it has been announced that SunExpress' German subsidiary SunExpress Deutschland would cease operations and be liquidated. Its route network would be partially taken over by SunExpress and Eurowings.
On 30 October 2023, SunExpress Airlines successfully completed its inaugural flight to Ercan Airport (Northern Cyprus) with 118 passengers. This special flight coincided with the 100th Anniversary of the Republic of Turkey, marking a significant historical moment. SunExpress will operate flights to Ercan Airport on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, making four round trips per week. This new route is highlighted as a crucial step both for travelers wishing to travel from İzmir to Cyprus and for Ercan Airport to serve a broader audience.
Its airports
Its main hubs
Airports that list it on their own website
These airports include this airline in the carrier list on their official website.
Other airports in its network
Route network according to OpenFlights (open route database). It may not reflect recent schedule changes.
Data from Wikidata (CC0) · summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Cite
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This page was last updated on September 26, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, September 26). SunExpress. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/sunexpress
MLA
“SunExpress.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 26 Sept. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airline/sunexpress. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “SunExpress.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified September 26, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/sunexpress.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) SunExpress. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/sunexpress (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airline_sunexpress,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{SunExpress}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-09-26},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/sunexpress},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/sunexpress}},
urldate = {2026-10-16},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/sunexpress |title=SunExpress |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-09-26 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}Types it operates · 91 aircraft · 3 models
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