{"id":1234,"date":"2025-12-03T09:56:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T09:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/2025\/12\/03\/sunexpress-race-to-the-sun\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T09:56:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T09:56:31","slug":"sunexpress-race-to-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/2025\/12\/03\/sunexpress-race-to-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"SunExpress: Race to the Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

Holiday airline SunExpress has ambitious expansion plans, but has supply and training issues to resolve first<\/strong><\/p>\n

This article first appeared in Low-Cost & Regional Airline Business March\/April 2025 and it presented here as one of our \u201912 Features of Christmas\u2019 series.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

We don\u2019t have lie-flat first class with a compartment that closes up, but we have a spirit and a warm heart that you\u2019ll feel in the cabin.\u201d These are the words of CEO of holiday airline SunExpress Max Kownatzki, speaking to an audience of around 200 people from the tourism industry around the carrier\u2019s base at Antalya in February.
\nHe has every right to be in an ebullient mood. The airline, which is now 35 years old and a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, has grown substantially from its days as a simple holiday airline ferrying tourists between bases in Europe and Turkey. Today it operates 200 routes across 35 countries and connects most countries in Europe with Turkey. It carries 1.5m passengers a year, with a split between seats booked by tour operators and those booked directly by passengers for point-to-point travel.
\nThe airline has also won a Skytrax award for being the best holiday airline in Europe and has ambitious growth plans which involve flying to additional destinations, aided by an expanded fleet of up to 70 new MAX-8 and MAX-10 jets. However, there are several challenges that the airline will need to overcome to achieve this growth.<\/p>\n

One-star ratings<\/strong>
\nWhile Skytrax is satisfied with the quality of the airline\u2019s service, the travelling public, arguably a far more important jury, have not given SunExpress such a rapturous welcome. Currently the airline ranks 2.5 out of five on Tripadvisor and just 1.5 out of five on Trustpilot. Even on Skytrax\u2019s own website the airline scrapes just four out of ten from passenger reviews.
\nThe same complaint keeps coming up, namely a lack of coordination in dealing with problems when things go wrong. A lack of process to deal with lost bags, chaotic check-in counters and befuddling online operations have all conspired to make the airline unpopular with travellers.
\nAsked about the issue, Kownatzki comments that the airline has grown significantly over the past couple of years but adds, \u201cYes, our customer service has lagged. We\u2019ve been very transparent about this and we do need to beef\u00a0it\u00a0up.\u201d
\nHe continues, \u201cThere is a second part which is that the expectation level and the volume at which these topics are voiced differs from country to country. We are seeing that UK passengers are more vocal, although that I\u2019m not trying to shy away from the operational issues that we\u2019ve had.\u201d
\nMoaning Brits aside, Kownatzki also points to multiple air traffic control issues, both in Europe and in Turkey. \u201cWe\u2019ve had significant delays which, coupled with high aircraft utilisation, had a ripple effect,\u201d he explains.
\n\u201cLast summer was like that. We\u2019ve addressed this topic by creating a \u2018Summer Task Force\u2019, not only to avoid it happening in the first place, but also to have better customer\u00a0communication.\u201d
\nApart from training staff to manage customer situations and to \u201chumanise when irregularities happen\u201d, Kownatzki also mentions that he has been looking at ways to automate cabin operations in a bid to bring further efficiencies on board.<\/p>\n

Premium economy<\/strong>
\n\u2018Pure play\u2019 low-cost carriers traditionally haven\u2019t offered anything other than the seat and a few add-ons such as extra luggage and chargeable snacks on board. SunExpress has never described itself as such, preferring the term \u2018holiday airline\u2019, but with a no\u2011frills approach and an aircraft utilisation of 16.5\u00a0hours a day, it does not pretend to be a luxurious full-service carrier.
\nHowever, some traditional LCCs now offer a \u2018premium\u2019 experience for passengers that want to pay to upgrade. While this option is something that is being looked at \u201ccontinuously\u201d, offering extras is something Kownatzki is wary of.
\n\u201cWe need to be sure that we don\u2019t loose the DNA that we have,\u201d he states. \u201cWe have crew utilisation of 94% even in the wintertime. If we start changing things up, such as offering a lounge or a business class, you start diluting that, and there is an expectation to drive you into other service areas. That needs to be a conscious decision because it comes with a whole avalanche of cost.\u201d
\nWith that said, Kownatzki is aware that there are many passengers, and golfers in particular, that are able and willing to pay more for a better flight experience with packages that include a pre-booked hot meal onboard, extra legroom, priority boarding and carriage for the golf bag.
\nHe says, \u201cI believe that we have hit a good compromise between offering a more premium, more seamless offering while not diluting our low-cost production capability. I think that\u2019s kind of the balance we\u2019re trying to strike.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aircraft pipeline<\/strong>
\nThe airline is one of a small number that has come out the other side of the pandemic and immediately expanded operations to a significantly higher level than before the crisis.
\nPlans have been made to expand still further, with scores of MAX jets on order to both update the existing fleet and to expand into new markets. However, the airline\u2019s expansionist dreams are being hampered by the well-publicised problems at Boeing.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re not happy with the delivery schedule, and you can quote me on that,\u201d states Kownatzki. \u201cWould we like Boeing to step up the delivery process? Yes, of course. But as you know, Boeing planned an output of about 64\u00a0Boeing\u00a0737s per\u00a0month. There\u2019s currently a cap in place of 38 aircraft. This cap by the FAA is also being upheld by the new FAA administrator under the Trump administration, so there\u2019s no movement on this, but right now they are not even close to the 38-unit cap \u2013 output is in the\u00a0twenties.\u201d
\nFor the record, Boeing plans to ramp up production of the 737 line to the FAA limit by mid-2025. However, there is a huge backlog to be worked through, with orders for over 5,500 aircraft valued at an eye-watering $435bn. This includes an order for 100 aircraft for SunExpress\u2019s rival, Pegasus.
\nThe airline currently has orders for 53\u00a0737 MAX-8 and 17 MAX-10 aircraft with options for 45 additional planes. \u201cWe are very happy with the aircraft and we have a trustful relationship with Boeing itself, so we\u2019re on good terms with a very open dialogue and communication with the company on this topic,\u201d Kownatzki\u00a0concludes.<\/p>\n

The post SunExpress: Race to the Sun<\/a> appeared first on Aviation Business News<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Holiday airline SunExpress has ambitious expansion plans, but has supply and training issues to resolve first This article first appeared in Low-Cost & Regional Airline Business March\/April 2025 and it presented here as one of our \u201912 Features of Christmas\u2019 series.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have lie-flat first class with a compartment that closes up, but we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zephyrsys.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}