For this year's summer season, Saarbrücken Airport is coming up with a new destination: SunExpress is now flying to the Turkish Aegean metropolis of Izmir. With 180 passengers on board, a Boeing 737-800 took off from SCN on Friday, May 26, after landing an hour earlier and being greeted by airport staff with welcome banners.

Among those present were airport CEO Thomas Schuck, Maximilian Gorski and Hakan Ortatepe from SunExpress, and SCN Supervisory Board Chairman and Minister of Economic Affairs Jürgen Barke. He was optimistic about the summer season: "With the metropolis of Izmir, Saarbrücken Airport has gained a new attractive destination in the up-and-coming tourist region of the Turkish Aegean. We expect the number of passengers flying to Turkey from Saarbrücken to increase significantly once again as a result of SunExpress' commitment."

With the launch of the connection on May 26, the route will initially be served once a week on Fridays and, from June 25, twice, additionally on Mondays. Izmir is thus the vacation airline's second destination from SCN, alongside Antalya. The destination can now be booked both as a "flight only"(www.sunexpress.com) and as part of package tours in Germany and France.

Airport Managing Director Thomas Schuck is also pleased about the new destination, as Turkey as a vacation destination is recording significant growth rates, particularly due to the ongoing commitment of SunExpress at SCN. Schuck expects last summer's positive development in passenger numbers to continue and emphasizes: "We maintain sufficient and well-trained staff so that passengers departing on vacation from Saarbrücken can enjoy not only short distances but also speedy and trouble-free handling, as was the case last year."

Izmir is considered a real treasure chest of culture and gastronomy. The city's rich history is reflected, among other things, in the World Heritage Site of Ephesus. It is particularly easy to discover the attractions of the coastal city with the Visit Izmir app, which was developed with the support of SunExpress.

Peter Glade, Commercial Director of SunExpress, is looking in both directions: "People in Saarbrücken can visit Izmir and experience the fascinating culture on the Aegean. At the same time, travelers from Turkey have the opportunity to get to know the German university city of Saarbrücken or the Völklingen Ironworks World Heritage Site. This route also opens up not only the Saarland, but the entire west of France and the financial center of Luxembourg. Thus, a connection between the economically most agile regions of Europe with Izmir and one of the economically strongest regions of Turkey with the world is created here. And all this with the best leisure airline in the world".

SunExpress is a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa. For years, it has been one of the world's ten best vacation airlines; in 2022, it even achieved the top spot and received the coveted Skytax World Airline Award for this. SunExpress has been present at Saarbrücken Airport for 30 years.