SunAir Express

Airline History

SunAir Express Virtual Airlines is a dedicated hobby organization that uses computer flight simulation software to model the operations of an airline for flight simulator pilots and aviation enthusiasts.

SunAir Express was founded in May 1992 by James Martin Swanson (1936-1995) on the Prodigy Online Service.  SunAir Express later expanded to include CompuServe and American Online but is now solely based on the Internet.

SunAir Express was origionally set up as a regional airline with one hub at Tampa International Airport (KTPA) serving some 20 cities in the southeastern United States.  SunAir Express has since expanded to five hubs with more than 1600 scheduled flights to over 400 airports in the United States including Alaska and Hawaii, along with flights to Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Far East.

In the early days SunAir Express based their operations on the flight simulator "Flight Assignment: Airline Transport Pilot" or "ATP" by SubLOGIC.  ATP was superior to "Microsoft Flight Simulator V3.0 and 4.0" back then due to the advanced ATC, build-in airline career assignments and more realistic aircraft flight modeling.  What has attracted most sim-pilots to SunAir Express in the beginning was the popularity of ATP and the desire to learn more about IFR flight and airline operations.

SunAir Express progressed from ATP to the ATP companion "3D Advanced Graphic System" (3DAGS), then to "Airline Simulator" (AS1) and "Airline Simulator 2" (AS2), all by Nomissoft.  SunAir Express began to support Microsoft Flight Simulator when FS98 finally caught up to AS2 by adding ATC.  SunAir Express pilots now fly using FS2004 (FS9) or FS2006 (FSX) and some are now using Prepar3D v4 (P3D).

We are fortunate to have some airline professionals and air traffic controllers as SunAir Express officers and pilots.  Our members continue to contributed significantly to the development of SunAir Express operation.  Their knowledge and experience have aided in our quest to simulate actual air transport procedures.

Company Statistics

• Founded: May 1992
• Number of Scheduled Flights: 1600+
• Number of Airports Served: 400+
• Serves cities in the U.S. including Alaska and Hawaii, Canada, Caribbean, Mexican, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Far East
• Five Hubs: Atlanta, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tampa, and Zürich

SunAir Express Aircraft Fleet

• Beechcraft 1900D (B190)
• Canadair Bombardier CRJ-700 (CRJ7)
• Embraer 190 E-Jet (E190)
• Bombardier Q400 De Havilland Dash-8-400 (DH8D)
• Boeing 737-800 (B738)
• Airbus 320-200 (A322)
• Boeing 767-300ER (B763)
• Boeing 747-400 (B744)
• Boeing 777-200LR (B772)

Requirements To Join SunAir Express

• You must own Microsoft Flight Simulator FS2006 (FSX) or Prepar3D v4 (P3D).
• You must own FS Flight Keeper to record flight events and submit flight logs.
• Pilot must demonstrate the ability to fly, navigate and land a Boeing 737 under instrument meteorological conditions.  This includes passing a short written test followed by a checkride flight that will include an ILS approach and landing with a touchdown rate of less than -500 feet per minute.

For more information about joining SunAir Express please visit the Pilot Application web page.  If you have any questions or comments about SunAir Express you are encouraged to Contact Us.