SunExpress Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, License and Hiring Process

SunExpress, the joint venture of Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines headquartered in Antalya, flies Boeing 737-800s and 737 MAX 8s: 86 Boeing 737s in all, aeroTELEGRAPH reported on 21 October 2026, with its first 737-10 expected in the first half of 2028. Its HR portal publishes four cockpit routes, which at the last check, on 10 November 2026, we read in a copy saved by the Internet Archive rather than on the portal itself. Captains need an ATPL and 4,000 hours, 500 of them as pilot in command; type-rated First Officers need 1,000 hours on aircraft over 27,000 kg; non-type-rated First Officers have no hours figure but need a CPL with a multi-engine instrument rating, the ATPL theory, an MCC course and Advanced UPRT, and must be 21 to 39 years and 364 days old when the ground course starts. Every route asks for a Part-MED Class 1 and English at ICAO Level 4. We found no dated vacancy on SunExpress’ own site, so both seats are unconfirmed.

Is SunExpress hiring pilots now?

Unconfirmed at the last check on 10 November 2026 — First Officer seat: Unconfirmed; Captain seat: Unconfirmed. Cockpit criteria on its HR portal, read in an archived copy: Captains 4,000 h with 500 h PIC; type-rated First Officers 1,000 h on aircraft over 27 t; non-type-rated First Officers 21 to 39, with a CPL/IR, the ATPL theory, MCC and Advanced UPRT; no dated vacancy found

Requirements, as published

Reading the requirements line by line

The requirements above are those of SunExpress’ HR portal page “General Cockpit Info” in a copy saved by the Internet Archive, which does not show its date, read on 10 November 2026; search results that day relayed the same criteria for non-type-rated First Officers. Read each one with that in mind:

• The age limit is counted at the ground course, not at the application. A non-type-rated First Officer must be at least 21 and no more than 39 years and 364 days old when the ground course starts; a type-rated First Officer, or a non-type-rated one with a military background, no more than 55 years and 364 days; a Captain no more than 59 years and 364 days with the type rating and 57 years and 364 days without it. The date that counts is the start of the course you would join, which comes after the selection, so ask for it when you are invited.
• Which hours count. A Captain needs 4,000 hours in all, 1,500 of them on aircraft with a maximum takeoff mass over 27,000 kg, three years as an airline pilot counted from the type rating endorsement, and 500 hours as pilot in command, at least 300 of them as commander on aircraft over 27,000 kg. A type-rated First Officer needs 1,000 hours on aircraft over 27,000 kg, training flights excluded, so only time on aircraft above that mass counts. The non-type-rated route gives no hours figure; the hours requirements page compares what other airlines ask.
• The license. Captains need an ATPL. First Officers may join with a CPL and a multi-engine instrument rating and the ATPL theory exams passed, what is usually called a frozen ATPL, and need an MCC course, completed before type rating training if not already; the commercial and airline transport pilot licenses article explains the difference. Every route asks for a Part-MED Class 1, the medical certificate of Europe’s aircrew rules.
• English, and nothing else named. Every route asks for English at ICAO Level 4 or higher. A non-type-rated First Officer also needs a test result from the last two years at these minimums for reading, listening, speaking and writing: TOEIC 385, 400, 160 and 150; TOEFL iBT 4, 4.5, 4 and 4; IELTS Academic 6.5, 6.0, 6.5 and 6.0; or iTEP Academic Plus 3.5 in each. The page names no other language and no right to work, visa or base, which remain among the points we could not confirm.
• Education and record. Captains need a high school diploma or equivalent, First Officers a bachelor’s degree or equivalent (not listed for the military route), and First Officers no administrative penalty from the DGCA or a related civil aviation authority.
• A second try. A candidate who failed the simulator or interview stage may be re-interviewed once per career stage: a non-type-rated First Officer as a type-rated one after 1,000 hours of jet experience in commercial airline operations, a type-rated First Officer as a Captain after an upgrade at another airline, and a Captain after 2,000 more hours in command.

Entry routes

• Type-rated and non-type-rated Captains
• Type-rated First Officers (ready entry, experienced)
• Non-type-rated First Officers, aged 21 to 39 years and 364 days at the start of the ground course
• Non-type-rated First Officers with a military background, aged 21 to 55 years and 364 days at the start of the ground course

SunExpress beside its peers

SunExpress beside the other airlines we compare it with, as recorded at each airline’s last check:

Read each row with its date. Turkish Airlines, also unconfirmed at its last check, recruits in campaign windows and listed no open position on 25 August 2026; Pegasus, the third Turkish airline on our board, flies mostly A320-family Airbuses beside its 737-800s, and its seat status was unconfirmed on 30 October 2026; Norwegian, which also flies 737 NGs and MAXs, closed its 737-rated and non-type-rated First Officer vacancies on 31 August 2026; Air France, easyJet and KLM give the wider European comparison.

Selection process

The airline does not publish its selection stages in detail; expect an online application, screening against the published minimums, an interview and a simulator or aptitude assessment before the medical.

Bases and fleet

Bases: Antalya, the headquarters (AviTrader, 29 January 2026; SunExpress’ description in Boeing’s release of 13 November 2023) · Izmir and Ankara, the bases SunExpress named in its description of November 2023 (Boeing’s release of 13 November 2023); which base a new pilot joins is not published

Fleet: Boeing 737-800s, two of them wet-leased to South African Airways for its December 2025 peak (ch-aviation, 10 December 2025) · Boeing 737-8s (737 MAX 8): four delivered in January 2026, after five in 2025 (AviTrader, 29 January 2026) · 86 Boeing 737s in all, with 64 more on order from Boeing and 11 new 737 MAX due in 2027 (aeroTELEGRAPH, 21 October 2026) · Boeing 737-10: 17 in the agreement of 13 November 2023 for 28 737-8s and 17 737-10s, with up to 45 more (Boeing); the first expected in the first half of 2028 (aeroTELEGRAPH, 21 October 2026)

How to prepare

SunExpress flies the 737-800 and the 737 MAX 8, so the B737 bank is the core of the technical preparation, with the 737 NG to MAX quiz for what the MAX changes; the Library’s Boeing 737 NG and 737 MAX differences sets out the same ground in prose. For the technical interview, the B737 interview set covers systems knowledge, standard procedures and operational scenarios, and technical questions in airline pilot interviews explains how that round is run. If you apply as a First Officer without a 737 rating, read class and type ratings for what the course involves: SunExpress arranges it through its own type rating training organization and lets you pay the fee from your salary over the three-year service contract, so ask for the amount, and what you owe if you leave early, before you accept an offer. A non-type-rated First Officer also needs a completed MCC course and a valid Advanced UPRT certificate, and an English test result from the last two years at SunExpress’ minimums, so book the test in time. The cockpit page names a simulator stage and an interview stage but not the whole selection, so prepare for the usual shape: the Library’s airline pilot recruitment and selection, competency-based pilot interviews and airline simulator assessment cover the stages most airlines use. Have your logbook totals, split by aircraft over and under 27,000 kg, your license, your Class 1 and your degree certificate ready to show, and check your age against the ground-course limits before you apply.

SunExpress has no interview guide on v1prep yet, so for the selection read the complete airline pilot interview guide. For the other airlines of Turkey, read Turkish Airlines pilot requirements, with its interview guide, and Pegasus Airlines pilot requirements; for the whole field, Boeing 737 pilot jobs, non-type-rated First Officer jobs and low-hour pilot jobs. Check SunExpress’ entry on the jobs board for the latest status.

What we could not confirm

• Researched on 10 November 2026 from a copy of SunExpress’ HR portal cockpit page saved by the Internet Archive, whose date is not shown, and from search-engine results, not from a direct read of the portal, which our requests could not reach. Confirm the criteria and any vacancy on the portal before you apply.
• Whether vacancies are open now: we found no dated vacancy on SunExpress’ own site
• Whether the live cockpit page still gives these criteria: the copy we read is undated, though search results on 10 November 2026 relay the same non-type-rated First Officer criteria
• The type rating fee: its amount, and what you owe if you leave before the end of the three-year service contract
• The selection stages in full: the cockpit page names only a simulator stage and an interview stage, in its rules for re-interviews
• Which base a new pilot joins: the cockpit page names none, and the latest base list we found is SunExpress’ own description of November 2023 (Antalya and Frankfurt as headquarters, Izmir and Ankara as bases)
• Which nationalities SunExpress takes, whether it arranges a work permit for foreign pilots, and whether any pilot is employed by a German operator: the cockpit page says nothing on these

These points are not published clearly by the airline. Treat them as leads, not facts, and confirm them on the careers page: careers page.

Common questions

Is SunExpress hiring pilots? Unconfirmed at the last check, on 10 November 2026: SunExpress’ HR portal publishes its cockpit criteria, which we read in a copy saved by the Internet Archive because the portal itself could not be reached, but we found no dated vacancy on SunExpress’ own site. Check the HR portal before you apply.

How many flight hours do you need to fly for SunExpress? Captains need 4,000 hours in all, 1,500 of them on aircraft over 27,000 kg and 500 as pilot in command, at least 300 of those as commander on such aircraft. Type-rated First Officers need 1,000 hours on aircraft over 27,000 kg, training flights excluded. The criteria give no hours figure for non-type-rated First Officers.

What are the SunExpress pilot age limits? At the start of the ground course: Captains no more than 59 years and 364 days if type-rated and 57 years and 364 days if not; type-rated First Officers, and non-type-rated First Officers with a military background, 21 to 55 years and 364 days; other non-type-rated First Officers 21 to 39 years and 364 days.

Does SunExpress hire pilots without a 737 type rating? Yes: its cockpit criteria describe non-type-rated Captains and First Officers. For a First Officer without a B737NG rating, SunExpress arranges the training through its own type rating training organization, and the fee may be paid from the salary during the three-year service contract. The amount, and what you owe if you leave early, are among the points we could not confirm.

Do you need German or Turkish to fly for SunExpress? Not by its cockpit page: it asks for English at ICAO Level 4 or higher, and non-type-rated First Officers also need a TOEIC, TOEFL iBT, IELTS Academic or iTEP result from the last two years at set minimums. The page names no other language and no right-to-work rule, so ask SunExpress about the work permit before you apply.