SunExpress beefing up German flights to Turkish resorts

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) – With tourists flocking to several popular Turkish coastal resorts again, Turkish-German joint venture SunExpress is adding capacity to ferry German holidaymakers.

The Turkish-German carrier is offering a 15% capacity rise in Antalya flights and 20% rise in Izmir flights this month, said a Monday statement by SunExpress, a joint venture of Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, the countries’ flag carriers.

The move follows last week’s decision by Germany to lift travel warnings for the Turkish resort cities of Antalya, Izmir, Mugla (including Fethiye), and Aydin. The move came as Turkish resorts and destinations nationwide implemented a “safe tourism” certification program to ensure visitors are kept safe from coronavirus.

SunExpress is currently operating direct scheduled flights from 14 cities in Turkey to 29 cities in Europe.

Operating daily international flights from Antalya to popular German destinations such as Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Berlin, and Nuremberg, SunExpress this month is also adding Munster and Osnabruck to its flight network.

The carrier is also boosting the number of flights to London, Paris, Vienna, and other European destinations, the statement said.

Based in sunny Antalya on the Turkish Mediterranean, SunExpress was founded in 1989 as a joint venture of Turkish Airlines and Germany's Lufthansa.

SunExpress last year saw a passenger load factor of 83% and carried an impressive total of over 10 million travelers.