SunExpress (XQ, Antalya) will lease four B737-800s from Brazilian operator GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes (G3, São Paulo Congonhas) in anticipation of a busy summer season Managing Director Paul Schwaiger has told Bloomberg news.

Last year, the joint-venture between Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Airport) and Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) leased in three twinjets from the Brazilians with plans to expand that kind of cooperation with carriers elsewhere in the southern hemisphere, including in South Africa, Schwaiger said.

Sun Express is poised to make its intercontinental debut during winter this year when its German carrier SunExpress Deutschland (Frankfurt International) wet-leases two A330-200s out to Lufthansa for its Eurowings (EW, Düsseldorf) subsidiary's first venture into the longhaul budget market with flights from Cologne/Bonn to Bangkok Don Mueang, Dubai International, Phuket, Punta Cana and Varadero.