Sun Express paints the town red ...and blue

The “Paint Book” livery is dedicated to Istanbul and it displays a unique approach, as the design is the joint product of Turkish and German artists putting emphasis on the importance of collaboration of different cultures.

SunExpress Managing Director Paul Schwaiger said; “We are excited to celebrate our 20^th anniversary and contribute to the promotion of Istanbul, one of the world’s most fascinating tourism destinations in the world, in our own way. The Boeing 737-800s have been the reliable workhorses of our fleet; this special aircraft will now become a flying piece of art. The aircraft is painted with the two strong and symbolic colors of Turkey -turquoise and red – and we hope it will be eye-catching anywhere in the world promoting Istanbul to hundreds of millions of people.”

“The 737 Next-Generation is the world's most popular airplane and it is a fitting tribute to both the 20th Anniversary of SunExpress and Istanbul’s status as the 2010 European Capital of Culture that SunExpress has selected this aircraft for this unique stunning livery. Everyone at Boeing extends their congratulations to the entire SunExpress team for 20 years of growth with continuous dedication to quality, operational integrity and world class passenger service” said Aldo Basile , vice president of Sales, Europe and Russia, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

The “Paint Book” design carries the individual drawings of the Turkish and German artists on a 39 meters long Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The aircraft was painted by Lufthansa Technic and it aims to serve as a cultural ambassador of Istanbul, 2010 Cultural Capital of Europe.

The relationship between SunExpress and Boeing goes back to the early days of the airline, which was founded in 1989. SunExpress made its first flight on April 2, 1990 from Frankfurt to Antalya with a new Boeing 737-300 delivered from Seattle to Frankfurt and since then it operates Boeings. Today, SunExpress flies an all Boeing fleet of 20 aircraft.

The “Paint Book” design is a joint project of Hamburg University’s Design Department (HAW) and Yıldız Technical University’s Faculty of Arts and Design (YTU). The arts students were chosen by Prof. Wolfgang Schönholz, one of the most successful advertising professionals of Germany and a professor at HAW and İnci Eviner, a renowned contemporary artist of Turkey and academician of YTU.

Arts students Marcel-Felix Krüger, Louise Jessen and Sebastian Bulas joined from Germany and Sibel Horada Coşkun, Seda Hepsev and Ozan Özkulaksız joined from Turkey. Tevfik Göktepe a graphical designer from İzmir-Turkey joined the group as the facilitator;

Metin Coskun from YTU took care of all photo and video documentation. From the very beginning, Lufthansa Technic was involved in the project and was represented by Dr. Matthias Panten, Aircraft Painting Director.