SunExpress

Infobox Airline
airline = SunExpress

logo_size = 300px
IATA = XQ
ICAO = SXS
callsign = SunExpress
parent = Turkish Airlines
Lufthansa
founded = 1989
headquarters = Antalya, Turkey
key_people = Paul Schwaiger (Director General)
hubs =

*Antalya International Airport
*Adnan Menderes Airport
*Sabiha Gökçen International Airport
*Bursa Yenişehir Airport

focus_cities =

*Frankfurt International Airport
*Munich Airport

frequent_flyer =
lounge =
alliance =
fleet_size = 17
destinations = 82
company_slogan =
website = http://www.sunexpress.com

SunExpress ( _tr. Güneş Ekspres Havacılık A.Ş.) is an airline based in Antalya, Turkey. It operates scheduled and charter flights to destinations in Europe. Its main base is Antalya International Airport (AYT).

History

The airline was established in October 1989. It started operations in April 1990 with a charter service between Antalya and Frankfurt, Germany. SunExpress was founded as a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa. In 1995 Lufthansa transferred its SunExpress shares to Condor Airlines, to group all tourist flights under a single unit. In February 2007 Condor shares were retaken by Lufthansa.

The owners of SunExpress are 50% Turkish Airlines and 50% Lufthansa. The airline carried just over 2.358 million passengers in 2006. With 617 employees, 373 of which are flight crew staff, SunExpress is the largest employer in Antalya. Including 181 staff at Izmir office and 23 at Frankfurt, SunExpress employs 821 people in total.

SunExpress operates a fleet of 14 airplanes with an average age of 8.6 years and a seating capacity of 2,796 seats. Plans for the purchase of two new Boeing 737-800s, which will be added to the fleet in April and May 2008, will increase the number of aircraft in the fleet to 16. 12 Boeing airplanes leased by SunExpress are equipped with blended winglets installed by THY Maintenance Center.

SunExpress is the only airline in Turkey that is ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and Ohsas 18001 certified.

SunExpress' supports the Golden Orange Foundation, the Antalya Piano Festival, the International Izmir Festival, the Ayvalik International Music Academy, the Antalya Arts Festival, the Youngenc Orchestra and the Antalya Youth Education Association as part of the company philosophy to contribute to the social and cultural life of Antalya and Izmir. The company also provides educational scholarships to 100 girls as part of the “Baba Beni Okula Gonder” project and is the official carrier of the Antalya City Basketball Team.

SunExpress contributes to the growth of Turkish tourism through its active membership in the Antalya Promotion Foundation (ATAV) and the Destination Izmir project, which was established to promote Izmir’s tourism attractions in Europe. SunExpress also supports TUROFED (Turkish Hotel Federation) in promoting hotels in Turkey, which is considered one of the most important components of tourism.

Destinations

SunExpress Flights Operated From Main Hub Antalya (AYT) (Winter 2007/2008)

*Adana
*Amsterdam
*Basel
*Berlin Schönefeld
*Berlin-Tegel
*Bremen
*Cologne
*Diyarbakir
*Dortmund
*Dresden
*Dusseldorf
*Erfurt
*Erzurum
*Frankfurt
*Friedrichshafen
*Graz
*Hamburg
*Hannover
*Humberside
*Innsbruck
*İzmir
*Karlsruhe
*Leipzig
*Linz
*Münster
*Munich
*Nuremberg
*Paderborn
*Pristina
*Rostock
*Saarbrücken
*Salzburg
*Stuttgart
*Trabzon
*Van
*Vienna
*Zurich

SunExpress Flights Operated From Second Hub İzmir (ADB) (Winter 2007/2008)

*Adana
*Amsterdam
*Antalya
*Berlin Schönefeld
*Berlin-Tegel
*Bursa [starts in August 2008]
*Cologne
*Diyarbakir
*Dusseldorf
*Erzurum
*Frankfurt
*Gaziantep
*Hannover
*Kars
*Kayseri
*Malatya
*Munich
*Nuremberg
*Oslo
*Paris (CDG)
*Samsun
*Sivas
*Stockholm
*Stuttgart
*Trabzon
*Van
*Zurich

SunExpress Flights Operated From The New Hub Istanbul (SAW)

*Adana
*Antalya
*Cologne
*Diyarbakir
*Erzurum
*Hanover
*Kars
*Nuremberg
*Sivas
*Trabzon
*Van

SunExpress Flights Operated From Bursa (YEI)

*Diyarbakir
*Erzurum
*İzmir [starts in August 2008]
*Trabzon

Fleet

The SunExpress fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of 8 September 2008) [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=XQ&al_op=1] :

SunExpress average fleet age is 5.9 years (as of April 2008).

External links

* [http://www.sunexpress.com.tr/ SunExpress]
* [http://www.sunexpress.de/ SunExpress] (German website)
* [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=XQ&al_op=1 Fleet]