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DALLAS - After waiting two years, SunExpress (XQ) has finally launched its twice-weekly Boeing 737-800 summer service between Milan, Italy, and Izmir, Turkey.
SunExpress, a joint venture of Lufthansa (LH) and Turkish Airlines (TK) that has specialized in leisure travel for 30 years, will operate the Monday and Thursday weekly schedule, departing at 3:00 pm from Milan-Malpensa Airport (MXP) and arriving at 6:50 pm at Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport (ADB).
On the same two weekdays, a flight from ADB to MXP will depart Turkey at 12:10 am and arrive in Italy at 2:15 pm.
According to FlightRadar24, XQ flew for the first time from MXP to ADB on Monday, May 23 with aircraft TC-SPC, but the route was officially unveiled today with TC-SEY, completing its first week of this XQ summer 2022 service.
Comments from SunExpress
The airline, the result of a joint venture between LH and TK that is now 50-50% owned and represented in Italy by Aviareps, was supposed to inaugurate the route as early as summer 2020. The route was later postponed due to the outbreak of the pandemic. Lara Roma, head of Commercial for XQ, recalled how the airline had planned a flight for summer 2020 but had to postpone.
"For now, the company's only Italian base is the Milan airport, "but the goal is to increase our presence," explained Richter Volker, area manager of foreign markets.
SunExpress Fleet
The XQ fleet consists of 67 Boeing 737s in full Economy, meaning there is no Business Class but there are three extra leg seats.
Sun Express operates with leisure and ethnic target (it started with connections for the Turkish community in Germany). Today it unites Europe and Turkey with 41 destinations. For the time being, it operates only one flight from MXP to Izmir.
Featured image: SunExpress Boeing 737-800 TC-SEY Flight ZQ893. Lorenzo Giacobbo/Airways
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