Turkish leisure carrier SunExpress sees opportunity in Syria, CEO says

SunExpress, a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, sees Syria as a growth opportunity and an attractive market to tap into, once the necessary technical and safety conditions are met, its CEO said on Tuesday.

Turkey, a close ally of the new government in Damascus, has promised to support the country's reconstruction, including the improvement and maintenance of its airports, vowing to help the country rebuild after the ousting of former president Bashar al-Assad in December.

Asked if the carrier had plans to start flights to Syria in the coming period during a press conference in Istanbul, SunExpress CEO Max Kownatzki said Syria could be a "very good opportunity" and a "really attractive destination".

"In general there are still pockets out there, where you can tap into new markets and I definitely think Syria is one of them. And (it is) interesting on multiple fronts, not only on the tourism front," Kownatzki said.

Almost 11 million people visited Syria in 2010, before the start of the civil war the following year, according to data from the World Tourism Organization.

However, he added that SunExpress needed to firstly examine issues such as safety protocols and aircraft types.

The Turkish leisure carrier serves 237 routes across 35 countries and targets 16.8 million passengers in 2025, the CEO said. Its revenues stood at 2.2 billion euros ($2.52 billion) in 2024, while its EBIT was 195 million euros.

On Tuesday, Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu held talks in Damascus with his counterparts and visited Damascus Airport, which Turkey has been helping rebuild.

Turkey's flag-carrier Turkish Airlines has already started flights to and from Damascus.