21 October 2024 – SunExpress, a joint venture of Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, will strengthen its partnership with South African Airways (SAA) by expanding operations in the upcoming European winter season.

Building on the successful first year of their partnership, SunExpress will now double its leased fleet to SAA, providing four Boeing 737-800 aircraft with cockpit as well as maintenance crew for a six-month period. The first aircraft will start operations at the beginning of November. The second season of damp lease operations will feature a fresh cabin configuration with 16 premium seats and 159 economy seats.

This expanded capacity will enable SunExpress to support SAA with 134 weekly flights across three routes, ensuring broader connectivity and greater travel options.

Entering its second year, the agreement sees both airlines further enhancing their collaboration with a specialised training programme for SAA cabin crew members at SunExpress’ Headquarters in Antalya and at South African Airways Headquarters in Johannesburg in September 2024.

Max Kownatzki, CEO of SunExpress, said “We are excited to expand our partnership with South African Airways and build on the successes of our first year together. Doubling our leased fleet to SAA marks a significant step in managing seasonality as we continue to grow our fleet.

“The dedicated training we provide to SAA also underscores our shared vision of operational excellence and reflects our willingness to leverage more opportunities together."

Prof. John Lamola, CEO of SAA, commented: "SunExpress has demonstrated exceptional reliability since the inception of our agreement last year. We are delighted to confirm the expansion of our partnership to accommodate a further two aircraft for our peak season. The additional aircraft will support our growth path during heightened customer demand and mitigate our management of the global aircraft availability issue.

“We are also excited about the opportunity for our cabin crew members to receive specialised training, which will further elevate the high level of service and safety we provide to our customers."

SunExpress was named Best Leisure Airline in Europe at the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2024.

SunExpress is a value carrier with a strong presence on the Turkish Riviera and in Anatolia. In 2024, it is operating a total of 200 routes to 68 destinations across 35 countries. SunExpress is the leading carrier from Germany-Austria-Switzerland to the Turkish Riviera and Anatolia.

In addition to ‘summer, sun and beach’, SunExpress aims to cater for numerous other types of tourism for which Türkiye is popular, including cultural, archaeological, culinary, and sports travel.

For more information, visit www.sunexpress.com