SunExpress expects growth to take off
Posted by meb at October 17th, 2008
SunExpress, a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, expects to improve its market position and grow in the aviation sector.
The general manager of SunExpress, Paul Schwaiger, declared that the place they occupy in the market gives them the strength to reach even higher in the future. He underlined that they have responded to strong market demand and continued to grow at their three home bases, especially at İstanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport. “In 2008, we added four new Boeing 737-800 models to our fleet, and we operated 17 aircraft,” he added.
Deputy Managing Director Hacı Say asserted that they expected to reach their targets by the end of the year despite the difficulties in the sector. “We had predicted 2008 to be a strategic growth year for SunExpress. Compared to last year, we had a rise in international passenger numbers of 21 percent, carrying 2.1 million passengers in the first nine months of 2008 compared to the same period last year. With the addition of flights based out of İstanbul Sabiha Gökçen, we achieved an incredible growth rate of 88 percent in domestic routes and carried more than 1 million passengers.”
Between January and September 2008, the company increased the total number of passengers by 37 percent to 3.1 million over the same period last year. Similarly, SunExpress raised revenue 32 percent to 309 million euros, and the number of flights was up 34 percent to 22,294 despite the global risks threatening the aviation industry. Over the same period, the company also improved seat-load factor by 1.2 percent, bringing its occupancy rate to 78.3 percent.
source: Today’s Zaman
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