Sunexpress

SunExpress
IATA code :	XQ
ICAO code :	SXS
Call sign :	SUNEXPRESS
Founding:	1989
Seat:	Antalya , Turkey
Turnstile :	Antalya Izmir
Home airport :	Antalya
Company form:	A.Ş.
IATA prefix code :	564
Management:	Maximilian Kownatzki ( Managing Director )
Number of employees:	approx. 4,000.
Sales:	€ 1.15 billion (2017)
Passenger volume:	8.8 million (2017)
Frequent Flyer Program :	SunExpress Bonus
Fleet size:	44 (+ 42 orders)
Aims:	National and international
Website:	www.sunexpress.com

Sunexpress ( spelling SunExpress , officially Güneş Ekspres Havacılık A.Ş. ) is a Turkish airline based in Antalya and based at Antalya Airport .

history

Foundation and first years

The company was founded in 1989 as a joint venture of Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Turkish Airlines initially with a Boeing 737-300 founded and 64 employees. In 1995, the Lufthansa Group transferred its 50 percent stake to Condor in order to bundle all tourist flights under one roof, but then took it back in February 2007 as part of a share swap when Condor was taken over by the Thomas Cook Group .

2000s

Since 2001, in addition to charter flights to holiday destinations, scheduled flights to and between destinations in Turkey have also been operated.

In early 2009, the older Boeing 757-200s were replaced by much newer Boeing 737-800s . As a result, the average age of the fleet fell to 5.2 years, making SunExpress one of the youngest fleets in Europe at the time.

In spring 2010 a new corporate design was introduced, which includes a new logo and a new color scheme for the aircraft. A Boeing 737-800 was the first aircraft to receive the new color scheme on April 16, 2010. The company has been the shirt sponsor of the Turkish premier league team Antalyaspor since the 2010/11 season, and for the 2012/13 season it used perimeter advertising in eight Bundesliga stadiums in Germany.

From June 8, 2011 to June 2020, it operated Sunexpress Deutschland, an independent German airline with a joint external presence.

In 2015 the airline had 8.7 million passengers.

Developments after the attempted coup in 2016

After the failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016, the Turkish economy suffered a severe shock. Bookings plummeted and many passengers canceled their flights. Turkey's tourism suffered one of the worst years since the Gulf War. SunExpress felt that too. Sales and profit decreased in 2016.

In 2017, contrary to all expectations, SunExpress began to almost double the number of direct flights to numerous Turkish cities. The main focus was on cities that were not on the coast of Turkey. SunExpress calls this their "Anatolia Business". The hubs in Antalya and Izmir have also been expanded. Since many European airlines had greatly reduced their flight offers to Turkey, the new strategy of SunExpress proved its worth and the airline made the highest turnover and profit in its history. In 2018 and 2019, SunExpress continued this new strategy and had to rent up to 10 aircraft at times over the summer months due to high demand.

Conflict over participation

For a long time there was no works council at the German branch of SunExpress. In March 2018, the airline had applied for an injunction at the Labor Court in Frankfurt am Main to prevent its pilots and flight attendants from setting up their own works council. The Frankfurt Labor Court agreed with SunExpress that there was no legal basis for a works council election because flight operations were not subject to the Works Constitution Act. The election of a works council is void there without a collective agreement. An EU directive on employee representatives does not contradict this either.

For flight operations, the Works Constitution Act contains a paragraph 117 : "For employees of aviation companies employed in flight operations, a representation can be set up by means of a collective agreement." There was no such collective agreement at Sunexpress Germany until 07.2019, although the cockpit pilots' union and the independent flight attendant organization did demanded a long time.

Destinations

SunExpress flies from its two hubs in Antalya and Izmir to domestic Turkish destinations as well as European airports and numerous German-speaking destinations.

SunExpress Germany served other cities in Europe from Frankfurt am Main , among others .

Both airlines work together with numerous tour operators .

fleet

Boeing 757-200 of SunExpress

As of March 2020, the SunExpress fleet consists of 44 aircraft with an average age of 9.9 years:

Aircraft type	number	ordered	Remarks	Seats
Boeing 737-800	44		13 operated for Anadolujet	189
Boeing 737 MAX 8		42		- open -
total	44	42

Special paints

Current special paints

Aircraft type	Aircraft registration	Painting	image
Boeing 737-800	TC-SNU	" Shaun the Sheep - UFO Alert "

Former special paints

Aircraft type	Aircraft registration	Painting	image
Boeing 737-800	TC-SNN	"Playstation"
	TC-SNY	"Peter Rabbit and his friends"
	TC-SOH	"Despicable Me 3"

See also

• List of airlines

literature

• Frank Littek: 30 years of Sunexpress. In: AERO International , No. 6/2020, pp. 76-79

Web links

Commons : SunExpress  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• SunExpress website (including Turkish, English, German)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ https://www.sunexpress.com/de/impressum
2. ↑ http://www.airportzentrale.de/sunexpress-hat-im-jahr-2015-ueber-87-mio-passagiere-gezaehlt/45599/ - SunExpress counted over 8.7 million passengers in 2015 - accessed on 4 January 2017
3. ^ ^{A b} Company profile. Sunexpress, accessed June 1, 2015 . 
4. ↑ shgm.gov.tr ​​- HAVAYOLU İŞLETMELERİ (PDF file; Turkish)
5. ↑ KarstadtQuelle has taken over Thomas Cook. airliners.de, February 9, 2007, accessed on August 16, 2013 . 
6. ↑ Sunexpress: Records instead of a crisis - Istanbul jet for the anniversary . In: FliegerRevue . April 2010, ISSN  0941-889X , p. 10-11 .
7. ↑ Flugrevue.de - Sun Express retires Boeing 757-200 - replacement by 737-800 , accessed on January 25, 2016
8. ↑ antalyaspor.com.tr - Antalyaspor sponsor firmaları açıklandı (Turkish) ( Memento from October 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
9. ↑ sunexpress.com - Kick-Off Football Bundesliga: Sunexpress on board as sponsor. August 28, 2012, accessed August 16, 2013 . 
10. ↑ http://www.airportzentrale.de/sunexpress-hat-im-jahr-2015-ueber-87-mio-passagiere-gezaehlt/45599/ - SunExpress counted over 8.7 million passengers in 2015 - accessed on 4 January 2017
11. ↑ SunExpress'ten 2017 yılında rekor büyume - SunExpress. In: SunExpress TR. Retrieved June 19, 2019 (tr-TR). 
12. ^ New non-stop from Zurich to Ankara and Gaziantep. December 15, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2019 . 
13. ↑ Sunexpress sees opportunities for expansion in Turkey. In: News. May 30, 2017, accessed June 19, 2019 (German). 
14. ↑ SunExpress Germany prevents works council elections. SZ.de, April 19, 2018. Retrieved April 26, 2018
15. ↑ Detlef Esslinger: Unloved and expensive. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, Politics department. Tuesday 17th April 2018
16. ↑ sunexpress.com - flight plan ( memento of the original dated February 26, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed on October 1, 2016 
17. ↑ ^{a b c} SunExpress Fleet Details and History. Retrieved March 8, 2020 . 
18. ↑ Boeing - Orders & deliveries (English), accessed on February 8, 2020