Aurora Express Airlines (XQ) July 2025 Operational Report

Flight Activity Overview

Total arriving flights: 12232

Year‑over‑year change: +13.29%

Aurora Express Airlines handled robust summer demand across Türkiye’s coastal leisure markets and Germany–Türkiye VFR flows, supported by added seasonal capacity and improved aircraft utilization. Competition on Antalya and Izmir trunk routes remained intense, but high load factors and stronger tour-operator blocks sustained frequencies. The YoY growth also reflects a fuller recovery of charter programs compared with last July, tightening the schedule footprint in peak hours.

On‑Time Performance and Cancellations

On‑time arrival rate: 87.75%

Year‑over‑year change (on‑time rate): +46.42 pp

Cancelled flights: 16

Year‑over‑year change (cancellations): −78.08%

Punctuality benefited from calmer Mediterranean weather windows and tighter day‑of‑ops coordination with ground handlers at Antalya and Izmir. Air traffic flow restrictions into Central Europe still created sporadic holding, but improved turn processes and spare‑aircraft coverage reduced knock‑on effects. The sharp fall in cancellations reflects proactive aircraft swaps and earlier crew re‑rostering during storm watches.

Airlines Serving Key Hubs

Antalya (AYT) and Izmir (ADB) functioned as twin leisure hubs, concentrating wave banks around late morning and evening to support Turkey’s coastal resorts. Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK remained the strongest inbound markets, with secondary growth from Poland and the Nordics. Connection opportunities were mainly short ground‑time ‘triangle’ rotations rather than classic hub‑and‑spoke transfers.

Outlook

Passengers can expect solid summer reliability and straightforward point‑to‑point schedules at Antalya and Izmir; book early for peak weekends and allow a comfortable buffer if self‑connecting. Industry watchers should look for continued fleet densification on 737NG/MAX with quick‑turn playbooks and expansion into secondary German cities. We anticipate on‑time performance to remain elevated and selective new routes to extend shoulder‑season demand.