SunExpress soars to record revenues in 2024 Target set at 16.8 million passengers for 2025

Tuesday, Apr 29, 2025 0

€2.2 billion revenue in 2024, marking a 23% year-on-year increase
15 new routes for summer 2025, almost doubled seat capacity compared to the pre-pandemic period
Fleet of 85 aircraft, aims to carry 16.8 million passengers in 2025
Accelerated growth in the UK and Ireland

SunExpress, a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, has reported a record revenue of €2.2 billion for 2024, marking a 23% increase compared to 2023.

Celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, the airline revealed that it carried nearly 15 million passengers in 2024.

Almost doubling its seat capacity compared to the pre-pandemic period, SunExpress also announced its target of 16.8 million passengers in 2025.

SunExpress is continuing its expansion with 15 new international routes for Summer 2025 and a growing fleet of 85 aircraft serving 237 routes across 35 countries.

SunExpress CEO, Max Kownatzki, said: “Thanks to our strong financial performance, efficient operations, and high-quality service, we wrapped up a highly successful year. 2024 was a record year for us in terms of both capacity and fleet expansion, achieving the highest revenue and profit in our history. With a team of over 4,000 employees, we served nearly 15 million passengers.”

SunExpress is making significant investments in its UK and Ireland operation as it continues to grow its footprint in the market – its 2nd core source market behind the German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland).

In 2025, SunExpress will offer around 2 million seats in the UK and Ireland market – a 25% increase over 2024. This includes the inauguration of new routes across April and May from Glasgow, Liverpool and Cork, taking the airline’s UK and Ireland footprint to 13 departure airports. Almost half (7) of the 15 new routes being launched by SunExpress this summer are from the UK and Ireland.

Highlighting accelerated growth in the region, Kownatzki said: “The UK and Ireland market is of vital strategic importance to SunExpress. With continuing demand for Türkiye as a sought-after holiday destination, we have broadened our footprint from five to 13 airports since 2022, working alongside our travel industry partners to deliver increasing choice and value for customers in the UK and Ireland.”

Commenting on SunExpress’ strong momentum into the peak travel months, Kownatzki added: We have had a solid start to the 2025 summer season, with bookings increasing by 11% year-on-year for the second quarter of the year. Additionally, we are observing a significant rise in interest for the autumn season. This reflects a rising appetite in Türkiye not just for sea and sun vacations, but also for cultural, historical, gastronomic, health and sports tourism.”