SunExpress carries 3.6 million passengers in first half of 2015

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

SunExpress, a joint venture of Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, completed the first half of 2015 with an 18 percent increase in passengers, compared to the same period in 2014, it said in a press release.

“We have had healthy and successful growth during the last three years and for the 25th anniversary year of the company’s establishment, we have broken our own best record with the revenue achieved in 2014 and are now Turkey’s 40th largest company in 2014,” said SunExpress Managing Director Jaan Albrecht during a press meeting in Istanbul. 

The company carried a total of over 3.6 million passengers in the first half of 2015 and aims to exceed a target of 1.1 billion euros in revenue and more than 8 million passengers for the whole year, the company said Oct. 15.

“We had good six months in 2015. We are aiming to complete the year 2015 with record growth and revenue as we did in 2014 and 2013,” Albrecht said. 

Summer 2016 plans revealed 

Noting that international flights for summer 2016 had opened for sale, Albrecht said last summer season the company focused on new routes and began flying to 10 new international destinations from the Mediterranean resort of Antalya and five new international destinations from the Aegean province of İzmir.

“This summer season 2016, we will generally focus on consolidating and strengthening our position in the markets we fly. We will increase our total frequencies with an additional 1,237 frequencies which equals a 9 percent increase compared to last year’s summer season. In addition, there will be some new destinations from Bodrum and Dalaman. We will fly from Dalaman to Zurich and from Bodrum to Zurich and Hamburg,” he said. 

Stating that SunExpress was the airline that carried the most tourists on scheduled flights to the Mediterranean and Aegean regions, Albrecht said: “Antalya is our headquarters and we carry the most tourists to the Mediterranean region on our scheduled flights. Currently we fly to 69 destinations in 17 countries from Antalya. In 2012, SunExpress broke new ground by announcing İzmir as a hub and has been expanding its network from İzmir every year since. From İzmir we fly to 35 destinations in 13 countries and to 13 Anatolian cities. From our hub in İzmir, we offer 1,095 flights per week connecting Europe with Anatolian cities.”