SunExpress, the leisure airline jointly owned by Turkish Airlines and Germany’s Lufthansa, carried around 12.5 million passengers in the first nine months of 2026, broadly unchanged from the same period last year, according to figures reported by the tourism trade outlet Turizm Güncel on 21 October.
The Antalya-based carrier said it is aiming to reach 16 million passengers by the end of the year, meaning it expects to fly roughly 3.5 million more travellers in the final quarter.
Fewer seats, fuller planes
The airline said it reduced seat capacity to match market demand after a sharp rise in jet fuel prices. The trimmed schedule helped push its load factor, the share of seats filled on each flight, from 84 percent to 86 percent.
Chief executive Marcus Schnabel said SunExpress is strengthening its position as the leading holiday airline between the German-speaking countries, namely Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and Türkiye. Over the summer season from April to September, the airline carried 6.5 million passengers between Türkiye and these core markets, a rise of 3 percent.
The figures come as Türkiye’s airports post busy numbers overall: Turkish airports handled about 193 million passengers in January-September, and Antalya, SunExpress’s home base, remains the country’s main gateway for European holidaymakers, as shown by Antalya’s foreign visitor figures for the first nine months.
Winter seats and new routes for 2027
For the winter 2026/27 season, SunExpress is offering about 4.5 million seats. It expects to carry around 80 percent of travellers flying from Germany to the Turkish Riviera and Anatolia during the period.
The airline has also announced nine new routes for summer 2027. They include Dalaman to Hannover and Vienna, Bodrum to Cologne, Antalya to Weeze and Almaty, and İzmir to Astana, Bucharest and Chișinău. The Dalaman-Leipzig service, launched in October 2026, will continue into next summer.
The new Dalaman connections are relevant for residents and second-home owners on the Fethiye and Göcek coast, which Dalaman Airport serves. They add to other recent announcements, including AJet’s plans for direct Dalaman and Bodrum flights to Germany next summer. Readers considering a move to the region can find more background in our guide to living in Antalya.
Fleet expansion
SunExpress currently operates 86 aircraft. It has 64 Boeing jets on order and plans to take delivery of 11 of them in 2027, the airline said, adding that it will decide how to deploy the new aircraft depending on market conditions.
Founded as a joint venture between the Turkish and German flag carriers, SunExpress focuses mainly on point-to-point holiday flights linking Turkish resort airports with European cities, rather than transfer traffic through Istanbul.
Sources
Photo: Martin Falbisoner / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
