SunExpress, subsidiary of Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, completed the 2010 financial year with a strong double-digit increase in revenue and passenger numbers and set important strategic directions for the future growth of the company. In 2010, revenue increased by an encouraging 18.9 percent to a total of 510.7 millions Euros, after it had recorded a figure of 429.6 million Euros the previous year. The number of passengers transported rose from 5.6 million in 2009 to 6.7 million in 2010, which represents an increase of 19.3 percent. The reason for the strong rates of increase achieved is primarily due to the further expansion of the fleet with five additional aircraft to a present total of 25 jets, with which the airline was able to satisfy the higher demand. The offer of flights by SunExpress thus increased in the reporting period by 19.5 percent from 429,587 connections in 2009 to 510,697 in 2010, whereby the seating capacity increased to 4,238 seats. This corresponds to an increase of 20.2 percent on last year’s capacity of 3,855 seats. The seat load factor exactly matched last year’s level at 77 percent.

Fleet age 5.3 years
In 2010, SunExpress not only celebrated its 20th anniversary, but consistently made use of the year to carry out sustainable restructuring and modernization processes. In addition to the withdrawal from service of the three remaining Boeing 757-200 aircraft, the airline acquired eight Boeing 737-800 aircraft – six of them purchased – and extended the fleet to 25 aircraft of the homogeneous Boeing 737-800 type by the end of the year. With an average age of 5.3 years, SunExpress currently operates one of the youngest and most modern fleets in Europe. Moreover, in addition to an extensive relaunch of the SunExpress Corporate Identity and the cabin and ground services, a programme was also established aimed at standardizing flight operations as well as the optimization of the existing IT system. In addition, the airline’s existing contract network was subjected to an intensive check.

A major milestone in the 2010 financial year was the decision, approved by the SunExpress Supervisory Board, to found a German subsidiary of SunExpess. The new airline, which will initially will operate with three Boeing 737-800 aircraft, will probably commence operations in spring 2011 and in addition to non-stop connections between Germany and Turkey, also serve new destinations in Egypt in winter 2011/2012.

Target 2011: Eight million passengers
Paul Schwaiger, CEO of SunExpress: “Our anniversary year was a year full of changes for our company, in which we prepared ourselves for the next two decades. The demand for travel services between Germany and Turkey continues at a high level and we have managed to grow significantly, despite the extraordinary expenditures we have incurred within the context of our restructuring. We are very confident as a far as 2011 is concerned and have set ourselves the target of transporting more than eight million passengers by the end of the year and reaching a sales volume of up to 600 million Euros”.

“Following the successful establishment of our new Corporate Identity last year, the focus of SunExpress’s activities is now on the market launch of our German subsidiary. Through the official approval to serve further destination areas, in particular we would like to compensate for the negative effects resulting from lower utilization of the Turkey routes during the winter season, which in the final analysis will be positively reflected in our result”, added Paul Schwaiger’s deputy, Haci Say.