JOHANNESBURG—SunExpress and South African Airways (SAA) are close to entering into what could become a multi-year agreement for the European leisure airline to fly aircraft for SAA during the European winter season.

SunExpress, a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, has begun operating two Boeing 737-800s for SAA on a damp-lease basis. The two airlines have now signed a memorandum of understanding that would see SunExpress send four aircraft to South Africa in the 2024-25 European winter season, which is the peak summer season for SAA. SunExpress says it has offered to lease up to 10 aircraft to SAA as it grows its own 737 fleet.

"The memorandum of understanding clearly underlines our commitment to further deepen our successful partnership with SAA,” SunExpress CEO Max Kownatzki says. “We are proud of the trust that SAA is placing in us with the renewed intention to collaborate. We strive to build on this to develop a strong, long-term partnership and leverage more opportunities together in the future.”

SunExpress currently operates 66 aircraft and has outstanding orders for 122 more 737 MAX-family aircraft. According to Kownatzki, the airline plans to grow its fleet to up to 166 aircraft by 2035. But as a leisure airline primarily connecting Turkey with European destinations, SunExpress is subject to significant seasonality and so has been looking for ways to deploy its surplus capacity during the winter months elsewhere. As its fleet grows, up to 30 aircraft could be made available to other airlines during the off-season in the coming years as SunExpress looks to optimize its aircraft utilization.

For SAA, the arrangement provides much-needed extra capacity as the airline seeks to regain market share and grow its fleet from 13 aircraft to around 21 by the end of its fiscal 2025. Longer term, SAA is targeting a fleet of around 40 aircraft. That is still less than its former size, but enough to be a relevant player in the South African air transport market. However, SAA—grounded for 18 months during the COVID-19 pandemic and having emerged from business rescue in late 2021—is finding it challenging to procure additional aircraft quickly. Like most other airlines, SAA is faced with a global shortage of aircraft. SAA flies an all-Airbus fleet of A320s, plus one A330-300 and one A340-300.

SunExpress has opened a temporary crew base in Johannesburg. Eleven captains, 10 first officers, two technicians and seven cabin crew are staying for a standard period of two months, which can be extended. The two 737s are currently flying from Johannesburg to Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth, returning to base every evening. The operation is currently limited to domestic flights because SunExpress does not yet have regulatory approvals to fly to nearby international destinations. But SAA is keen to rebuild its regional network, too, where its former partner Airlink took on many routes while SAA was grounded.

South African CEO John Lamola said the agreement was “a milestone in the growth strategy” of SAA. Because of the opposite peak seasons, the relationship was a “win-win” for both. The deal “will become a multi-year agreement” as “the crisis of aircraft availability will persist until at least 2028,” Lamola predicted. He indicated that the two carriers could cooperate in other areas, too.

For now, the deal is only for SunExpress to operate on behalf of SAA. Executives at the European airline indicate they could see SAA fly on its behalf in the European summer over time.