A joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, SunExpress,continues to strengthen its presence between the UK and Türkiye. The new service will operate twice weekly on Tuesdays and Fridays, offering greater accessibility to Türkiye’s Mediterranean coast.
According to the schedule, Tuesday flights will depart East Midlands at 10:15 and Antalya at 14:10. Friday flights are scheduled to depart East Midlands at 15:05 and Antalya at 22:40. The airline noted that flight frequency may increase to three times a week during the peak season.
2025 goal: 16.8 million passengers
In a recent press event held in Istanbul, SunExpress executives announced that the airline, which carried 15 million passengers in 2024, is targeting 16.8 million passengers in 2025. SunExpress CEO Max Kownatzki revealed plans to operate a fleet of 85 aircraft next year and open 15 new destinations.
He highlighted that 8 of the carrier’s Turkish routes serve the Mediterranean Region, while 7 connect to cities in Anatolia, adding that the airline has doubled in size since 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. “We currently operate flights to 237 routes across 92 destinations in 35 countries,” he said.
Strong growth in the UK market
Kownatzki emphasized SunExpress’s rapid expansion in the UK:
“We started with 5 airports in the UK in summer 2020. Today, we serve 11 airports and aim to add Glasgow and Liverpool in the near future. We’ve reached 900,000 seats in this market, and our goal for this year is 1.6 million.”
