SunExpress slashes network latency and jitter

SunExpress cuts latency and jitter to keep flight operations moving

Established in 1989 as a joint venture of Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, SunExpress acts as a tourism ambassador between Türkiye and Europe with 35 years of experience and leisure airline expertise. SunExpress relies on Equinix to create and manage a strong infrastructure to provide the best service. 

The need for better networking 

Purchasing a closed line or circuit between Türkiye and Europe from multiple service providers resulted in higher costs and longer problem resolution times. 

One of the main challenges in the project was the increasing demand of the aviation industry for connection to ecosystem partners such as Amadeus, IBS and Amazon Web Services (AWS). The company also faced additional challenges in building digital resiliency, decreasing time-to-market, eliminating dependencies and focusing on neutrality. 

Partnering to innovate 

SunExpress partnered with Equinix to join a powerful ecosystem in March 2023. Once the partnership began, SunExpress managed its IT infrastructure in the FR4 Frankfurt and IL2 Istanbul data centers. The complete solution required Equinix and one of its local partners to work together. Equinix’s system integrator partner, KoçSistem, provided colocation services for SunExpress in the IL2 data center. 

The complete solution required Equinix and one of its local partners to work together. Equinix’s system integrator partner, KoçSistem, provided colocation services for SunExpress in the IL2 IBX. 

“The Equinix global footprint that can support our growth plans was one of the key reasons for our partnership,” says Kubilay Önder, IT Infrastructure and Operations Senior Manager, SunExpress. 

Strengthening connections 

Equinix helped SunExpress to interconnect securely and directly with customers, value-chain partners in the aviation industry and Equinix’s Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) capabilities—while enabling access to IBS, Amadeus, Microsoft Azure and AWS via the Equinix Fabric® global backbone. By deploying Equinix Fabric and Network Edge as digital services, the airline also empowered its digital journey with high-level scalability for rapid growth. "SunExpress will benefit from the Equinix infrastructure to provide a more efficient and faster network infrastructure for new destinations,” Önder explains. 

Benefits

Enhanced network performance 

Before using Equinix solutions, access time was 75–85 ms with 1–4 ms jitter from Antalya to Azure® internal services and systems. Thanks to Equinix and its services, this period decreased to 62–67 ms and jitter levels of 0–2 ms. This solution achieved packet transfer with a more stable line. 

Increased flexibility 

Deploying interconnection services from Equinix in operational processes and troubleshooting—instead of multiple service providers—not only made a difference in costs but also shortened problem resolution times. 

Improved flight operations efficiency 

SunExpress carried more than 12 million passengers in 2023. Thanks to the services received from the Equinix digital infrastructure to ensure the continuity of flight operations, critical service interruption decreased by 6.5 hours compared to 2022. With decreased expense factors affecting flight operations—such as delays, gate changes and flight order issues—SunExpress has also reduced revenue loss. 

More dependable service 

Equinix ensures that operational requirements and technical data are delivered to the relevant systems smoothly and on time, serving as the bridge between Türkiye and Europe for the SunExpress network infrastructure.