British passengers onboard a flight to Turkey finished all the plane’s alcohol supply, less than half an hour into their four-hour flight.
The incident happened during a recent SunExpress flight, with US–German chief executive Max Kownatzki describing Brits as “more high-spend, more hedonistic” than travellers from other countries.
While it has not been made clear which departing airport the aircraft took off from, the date and time of the flight in question or the number of passengers onboard, Kownatzki toldTTG that it was one aimed at golfers in particular.
Explaining how quickly alcohol stocks were drained, Kownatzki said: “We sold out of beer and wine 25 minutes after departure; we haven’t done that in any other market.”
The Turkish airline has nearly doubled the number of UK airports it operates from since 2022, with that number growing from five to nine.
Explaining this fast-growing expansion, Kownatzki said: “Before that, we had some select routes, but nothing major. We are now number three behind Jet2.com and easyJet. We needed to venture further in terms of our network – that made us look at the UK.”
SunExpress flights are available from Birmingham, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Luton, Manchester, Bristol and Newcastle, and current Turkish destinations including Antalya, Izmir and Dalaman. The airline is also adding Leeds Bradford and Stansted to the list in time for this summer, with aims for it to transport 1.3 million passengers with 136 flights weekly. This number is a step up from the 700,000 UK passengers who travelled with SunExpress during summer 2023.
SunExpress has been in business for 35 years, after launching in 1989 as part of a partnership between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines. It was named the Best Leisure Airline in Europe in August 2023.
The Independent has contacted SunExpress for comment.
