British passengers on Turkey flight drink the plane dry in under half an hour
The passengers were described as ‘hedonistic’ by the airline
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.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.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments