SunExpress Deutschland GmbH (Sun Express Germany), the joint venture carrier involving Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, is to close with the loss of approximately 1,200 jobs. Sun Express Germany is a separate company to Turkish Sun Express, the latter concentrating predominantly on flights between Germany and Turkey, while the former serves a number of leisure destinations in the Mediterranean region, while also flying on behalf of Eurowings, the low-cost carrier.
Sun Express Germany operated a fleet of over a dozen Boeing 787-300s, and also a number of Airbus A330-200s which it wet leased to Lufthansa’s Eurowings. It is anticipated that Eurowings will take over some of the carrier’s short- and medium-haul routes, but it is not known how many of the 1,200 staff will offered posts within the Group. In a statement, Lufthansa says it was jointly decided by the shareholders of SunExpress Germany to close the airline. Flights had already been halted and all aircraft grounded since the beginning of April, due to Coronavirus-related travel restrictions across Europe and the world.
“After intense discussions and evaluating various options for the continuation of flight operations, all shareholders have taken the decision to discontinue operations, which was agreed on during a meeting on June 23,” the Lufthansa Group stated. Turkish Airlines’ SunExpress will continue to operate its own routes using a fleet that consists of over 40 Boeing 737-800s.
