Following the example of the existing cooperation with Air Cairo, the Turkish holiday airline Sunexpress has also entered into a similar cooperation with the Bulgarian Electra Airways. The focus is on the summer months in 2025, 2026 and 2027.

Similar to the partnership with Air Cairo, Sunexpress will take on all commercial tasks from network planning, scheduling and slots as well as sales and marketing to revenue management. Electra Airways focuses on operational aspects such as ground handling, flight operations and onboard service.

“Expanding our successful partnership model is a strategic step to increase our international presence and expand our network in close collaboration with our partners. We are now using our in-depth expertise to establish further collaborations based on the same model and thus expand the offering for our sales partners. We want to grow together with our partners in order to be able to fulfill our customers' wishes in the best possible way," says SunExpress CEO Max Kownatzki, explaining the company's future plans.

The cooperation will initially extend to routes between Germany and Bulgaria. Sunexpress is not allowed to serve this itself with the Turkish AOC. The former sister company Sunexpress Deutschland no longer exists. The first flight of the new partnership is expected to take place in May 2025. These flights will operate under Electra Airways' IATA code. Initially, an Airbus A320 will each head from Varna and Burgas to various German cities. Sunexpress is expected to start selling airline tickets in May 2024.

“With Electra Airways we are gaining an ideal partner to once again expand the choice of special travel experiences for our guests and to provide all of our distribution partners with improved access to the Bulgarian coastline,” says Peter Glade, Commercial Director at SunExpress. “The sales model is closely coordinated with the planning processes and integrated into the system landscapes of our sales partners. This allows us to respond flexibly and quickly to the organizers' requirements. We are confident that our model will also help Bulgarian tourism achieve new growth.”

Stefan Trifonov, CEO of Electra Airways, is also optimistic about the future together: “We are pleased to have a strong partner at our side in SunExpress to further diversify our offering. I am confident that SunExpress's extensive experience in sales cooperation will help us convince even more customers of our great service and reliable flight operations in the future. I am also confident that our customers will enjoy the comfort of the modernized Electra Airways cabins that we will offer to the market from summer 2024.”