SunExpress flight delay and cancellation compensation

Your rights on a SunExpress flight

SunExpress is a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, flying leisure routes between Germany and other European cities and the Turkish coast — Antalya, Izmir, Dalaman. Despite the German half of its parentage, it operates under a Turkish licence, which makes it a non-EU carrier. That limits where your rights apply:

• Departing an EU/EEA airport — Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Vienna — EU261 applies in full.
• Departing a UK airport — UK261 applies.
• Arriving into the EU or UK from Turkey — not covered. A delayed Antalya to Frankfurt flight falls outside EU261 because the flight departs a non-EU country on a non-EU carrier. The same holiday, booked the other way round, is protected.

Where the rules do apply, the triggers are arriving at your final destination three or more hours late, a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice, or involuntary denied boarding when you checked in on time.

How much you could receive

Compensation is fixed by route distance, not by the fare:

• EUR 250 — routes of 1,500 km or less, such as Vienna to Izmir
• EUR 400 — routes between 1,500 km and 3,500 km, which captures the classic Germany–Turkey flying: Frankfurt, Düsseldorf or Hamburg to Antalya
• EUR 600 — routes over 3,500 km, rare on this network

UK261 pays GBP 220 / GBP 350 / GBP 520; a London to Antalya departure sits in the GBP 350 band. Every passenger with a confirmed seat is paid separately, and a lap infant without a seat is not.

When SunExpress doesn't have to pay

Beyond the coverage gap on Turkey departures, extraordinary circumstances — severe weather, air-traffic-control restrictions, airport closures, security alerts — remove compensation, but only where the airline proves they were unavoidable despite all reasonable measures.

The burden of proof is on SunExpress. A strike by its own crew is generally not extraordinary; third-party strikes by controllers or handlers usually are. Routine technical faults remain the airline's own responsibility.

How to claim from SunExpress

Check the departure airport first — that decides whether EU261 or UK261 applies at all. Then keep the booking reference, boarding passes and the delay or cancellation messages, and ask for the reason in writing. We confirm coverage from the flight number and date, submit the claim, chase it, and escalate to the German or relevant national enforcement body if the refusal is unsupported.

What it costs

The eligibility check is free. If we recover your compensation we charge a fixed EUR 39 success fee — the same whether you're owed EUR 250 or EUR 600 — and the airline's payment goes to you. No win, no fee.