SunExpress says bookings up by 150 percent after Germany’s decision about Turkey

Max Kownatzki, Senior Manager of SunExpress, a joint company of Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, said Germany’s removal of Turkey from its status as a “very high-risk” country and inclusion in the list of “risky countries” reflected positively on reservations. Kownatzki said there was serious relief in travel restrictions after Germany’s decision.

He said, “According to the regulation, provided both doses of the vaccine are given 14 days before the travel date, Kovid-19 disease has been overcome in the last 6 months or test results are negative quarantine will not be necessary at entry into Germany” adding that the improvements recorded in the vaccine application were promising.

The decision paves the way for free travel, the manager said, noting that Turkey’s strict measures, restrictions, implementation of the HES code and a safe tourism certificate made it easier to travel.

He said, “A strong season will be experienced this summer with Germany’s decision that there will be no quarantine on returns to this country from Turkey.”

We started to receive more than 150 thousand reservations per week

He went on to say, “Our reservations have started to go well. We are getting more than 150 thousand bookings a week. Our revenues are starting to turn positive. Compared to 2019, the increase in bookings during this period surpassed the same period before the outbreak in 2019.

There was a 30 per cent increase in domestic flights and a 150 per cent increase in week-to-week bookings on international flights compared to the same period in 2019. We are starting to catch up again with the volume of growth that should have been in our bookings. A few months ago, 75 per cent of our bookings were between 7 and 14 days before the flight. So last-minute bookings weighed more. That figure is now down to 58 percent. So people can now look ahead and make long-term reservations.”