Corendon Airlines

When a red tail with a white star flashes on the apron in summer, it’s usually clear: Corendon. The leisure airline from Antalya is among the most conspicuous guests at German vacation airports. It only gets exciting on a second look, though – because three different airlines from three countries fly under the same livery. On this page, you’ll learn how to tell them apart and what the fleet has to offer.

Corendon Airlines at a glance

Corendon Airlines is a Turkish leisure airline based in Antalya. The company – officially Turistik Hava Taşımacılık A.Ş. – was founded in November 2004 and took off for the first time in April 2005. Its most important bases are in Antalya and İzmir, right where millions of vacationers from Central and Northern Europe arrive every summer.

Behind the airline stands the Corendon Group, which sells travel, operates hotels and, of course, also flies aircraft. The group is also strongly rooted in the Netherlands – that explains why there is a Dutch and a Maltese sister in addition to the Turkish airline. According to the company, by the way, the name is derived from the Turkish word for the mineral corundum.

Corendon doesn’t belong to an alliance. That is typical for leisure airlines: as with SunExpress or TUIfly, the focus is on direct flights between home and vacation destination, not connections via a hub. A large share of seats is sold through package holidays, and some flights are chartered entirely by tour operators.

Codes and callsigns

• IATA code XC: appears in the flight number, meaning on the departure board, on your ticket and in the airport’s schedule.
• ICAO code CAI: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on most flight trackers.
• Callsign CORENDON: how the crew identifies itself on the radio.

With Corendon, a look at the ICAO code is especially worthwhile. Some of the vacation flights that a travel agency simply sells as “Corendon” are actually operated by the Maltese sister – with its own flight number and its own callsign. How the two code systems relate is explained in the article on IATA and ICAO codes, and you’ll find the difference between flight number and radio callsign in the post Callsign or flight number?.

Three airlines, one livery: the Corendon family

For passengers, it hardly matters which Corendon company takes them on vacation. For spotters, it is the most interesting part of the whole brand – because each company has its own codes, its own registrations and its own fleet.

Airline	Headquarters	IATA / ICAO	Callsign	Registration	Fleet (as of 2025/26)
Corendon Airlines	Antalya, Turkey	XC / CAI	CORENDON	TC-	around 15 Boeing 737-800s and 737 MAX 8s
Corendon Airlines Europe	Luqa, Malta	XR / CXI	TOURISTIC	9H-	Boeing 737-800
Corendon Dutch Airlines	Badhoevedorp, Netherlands	CD / CND	DUTCH CORENDON	PH-	Boeing 737 MAX 9; at times a leased Airbus A350-900 for the Caribbean

Corendon Airlines Europe was founded in 2017 and has been based in Luqa, Malta, since 2020. The company is especially important for the German market: it had aircraft stationed in Düsseldorf, Nuremberg, Cologne/Bonn and Hanover, among other places, and mainly serves destinations in Turkey, on the Greek islands, the Canary and Balearic Islands and in Egypt.

Corendon Dutch Airlines has flown with its own air operator’s certificate since 2011, mainly from Amsterdam-Schiphol. It has since replaced the 737-800 with the longer Boeing 737 MAX 9. For long-haul to the Caribbean, to Curaçao and later Bonaire as well, it leased an Airbus A350-900 with crew from a Spanish airline starting in late 2023 – a classic wet lease. Whether this arrangement is still running, the current schedule will tell you.

If you don’t yet feel sure about the country prefixes, the article on Country codes on aircraft offers an overview. How a registration is structured in general is explained in Understanding aircraft registrations.

The fleet: all Boeing 737

Corendon Airlines bets entirely on the Boeing 737. According to early 2026 fleet overviews, the Turkish company’s fleet comprises around 15 aircraft. The number fluctuates because Corendon leases individual aircraft to other airlines at times – in early 2026, several aircraft were flying for an Indian customer.

Type	Number (approx., early 2026)	Seats	Spotter tip
Boeing 737-800	around 9	189	The classic with blended winglets and round engine cowlings
Boeing 737 MAX 8	around 6	n/a	Newer generation with LEAP engines and split winglets

The Boeing 737-800 is the backbone of the fleet. With 189 seats, it is designed for plenty of capacity on vacation flights. The Boeing 737 MAX 8, which is more economical and quieter, also flies. The manufacturer of both types is Boeing.

Here is how to tell the two variants apart at the spot:

• Engines: The MAX has larger engines with serrated trailing edges on the cowling (“chevrons”). On the 737-800, the edge is smooth.
• Winglets: The MAX carries split winglets that point up and down. The 737-800 usually has tall, one-piece blended winglets.
• Tail end: The MAX’s rear fuselage is slimmer and more drawn out.

A look back: Corendon also used to fly older Boeing 737-300s and 737-400s and at times operated Airbus A321s and even an Airbus A330-300. These types no longer play a role today. An Airbus in the Corendon world is therefore almost always a leased aircraft – such as the A350 with which the Dutch sister at times flew to the Caribbean. The guide Airbus or Boeing? gives you tips on telling the two manufacturers apart.

How to recognize Corendon

The livery is the big plus for spotters. It is so distinctive that you will hardly confuse Corendon with another airline, even in bad light or at long distance.

• Tail: bright red, with a white figure formed from a star and the vertical “corendon” lettering in lowercase.
• Fuselage: mostly white. At the front, “corendon” in large red letters, a red star in front of it, and a somewhat smaller “AIRLINES” beneath.
• Engines: often red-painted cowlings – a strong contrast to the white fuselage.
• Winglets: often red with a small white star.
• Registration: on the rear fuselage, with TC- for the Turkish company and the Turkish flag next to it.

Special liveries

Corendon repeatedly deploys special liveries, often tied to sports or pop culture. Known ones include:

• TC-TJY “Antalyaspor”: a 737-800 in the look of the Antalya soccer club, in service since May 2021 according to fleet overviews.
• TC-COH “Eurovision Song Contest 2020”: a 737-800 with ESC motifs, flying from March 2020 to June 2022.
• TC-TJB “Kids & Co”: an older 737-300 with a children’s design that flew between 2012 and 2016.
• “Sweet Louise”: a Boeing 737 MAX 9 of the Dutch sister that received a tattoo livery by the artist Henk Schiffmacher for the Corendon Group’s 25th anniversary in 2025.

Special liveries eventually get painted over, and aircraft move between the companies. So before a targeted hunt, check whether the aircraft is still flying in the look you’re after. How to track such aircraft down is explained in the guide Finding special liveries.

History in bullet points

• 2004: The airline is founded in Turkey, legal name Turistik Hava Taşımacılık.
• 2005: Operations begin in April.
• 2011: The Dutch sister Corendon Dutch Airlines flies with its own operating certificate.
• 2017: Corendon Airlines Europe is founded in Malta, first flight in May 2017.
• 2020: Corendon becomes an advertising partner of 1. FC Nürnberg; the partnership ends in 2024.
• 2023: German media report on the airline’s financial difficulties, including outstanding payments of the German air travel tax. The consequences of the war in Ukraine, higher fuel prices and an over-expanded summer 2022 schedule are cited as reasons.
• 2023/24: Corendon Dutch Airlines switches to the 737 MAX 9 and flies a leased A350 to the Caribbean.

Spotting Corendon in Germany

Germany is one of the most important markets of the Corendon family. In recent years, numerous German airports appeared in the route overviews, including Düsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn, Hanover, Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich, Berlin Brandenburg and Leipzig/Halle. Smaller airports such as Paderborn/Lippstadt, Münster/Osnabrück or Friedrichshafen are added. Vienna and Zurich were also on the schedule.

Important: connections are strongly seasonal and change every year. In summer, especially during school holidays, the chance of Corendon is highest. In winter, the airline flies to Germany much less. And whether a flight is operated by the Turkish company or by the Maltese sister can change from season to season.

Good starting points for photos are the observation decks at Corendon airports, such as in Düsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn, Hanover and Nuremberg. There you often see Corendon next to Condor, TUIfly and SunExpress – the perfect opportunity to compare the different leisure airlines directly.

Leisure airlines often land in waves: in the morning, many aircraft depart toward the south, and in the afternoon and evening they come back. Plan your spot according to the runway direction in use, or you’ll be standing on the wrong side of the runway – how to judge it is explained in the guide on the runway direction in use at an airport. For the right light on the red tail, Planning around the sun position helps you. And if you’re just starting out, Plane spotting for beginners is the right place to begin.

Common mix-ups

• Thinking every red Corendon 737 belongs to the Turkish airline – some of the flights from Germany run through the Maltese sister with 9H- registrations.
• Mixing up XC and XR – XC is Corendon Airlines, XR is Corendon Airlines Europe.
• Thinking the A350 is Corendon’s own long-haul fleet – it was leased with crew only and flew for the Dutch sister.
• Logging a 737-800 with winglets as a MAX – the surest feature is the MAX’s serrated engine cowlings.
• Confusing Corendon with Pegasus or Turkish Airlines – only Corendon has the white star and the vertical lowercase lettering on the tail.
• Thinking Corendon is a low-cost scheduled airline – the business revolves mainly around vacation flights and package holidays.

Conclusion

Corendon Airlines is proof that leisure airlines are anything but boring. The red-and-white livery makes the airline easy to recognize, but behind the brand are three companies with their own codes and registrations from Turkey, Malta and the Netherlands. If you note the registration and ICAO code, watch the 737’s engines and keep an eye on the special liveries, you turn a summer sighting into a real logbook entry.