SunExpress surpasses 400 mln euros in 2008

Paul Schwaiger, managing director of SunExpress, said that whilst SunExpress expects to grow further this year, the airline is also preparing to face the effects of the global crisis. "This year will be a difficult one. We have to be careful in assessing how the ongoing turbulence may affect our business. In fact, we are ready to cut costs in all other aspects except safety and quality," Schwaiger told Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review yesterday.

Crisis may turn into advantage
On the other hand, Schwaiger believes the crisis may enable the Turkish tourism sector to highlight its assets. "In tourism Turkey is in a good position. Here the quality of hotels and service is much higher and prices are clearly lower than in Spain. When income levels in Germany, for example, come down due to the crisis, consumers will start looking more at the cost of a holiday and will choose Turkey. With good prices and value for money, Turkey may gain from this crisis" he said.

Schwaiger said he believes a notable part of growth in business volume in 2009 will come from flights to Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport, on the Anatolian side of the city. SunExpress currently operates 222 flights a week from the airport. "The importance of Sabiha Gökçen has grown immensely in the past years. We expect the expansion of the terminal to be complete by October, which will make available the infrastructure to offer more flights from the airport," Schwaiger said. Sabiha Gökçen Airport is already reaching its full capacity for approximately 5 million passengers as some 4.4 million passengers used it last year.

Over 2008 the number of SunExpress’ domestic passengers increased by 104 percent from 702,000 to 1.43 million. Schwaiger notes the domestic air traffic market in Turkey is likely to experience strong growth also in the future due to long distances within the country and reducing cost of air travel. "For example our Izmir-Van route from the Aegean Coast to Van in eastern Anatolia takes some two hours and ten minutes, by plane, roughly the same as a flight from Istanbul to Vienna. By bus, on the other hand, one has to travel two nights and one day," he said.

Consumers in Turkey are increasingly coming to understand that long journeys like that do not only cost money, but also time, Schwaiger added. "The lowering cost of air travel is also motivating people in greater numbers to prefer planes instead of buses," he said.

At present SunExpress has a fleet of 18 planes, which fly approximately 838 flights a week between Turkey and European cities, as well as within Turkey. By June the airline will have expanded its fleet to 20 planes. The airline also expects to increase the share of scheduled flights of its total flights volume.