Pegasus Airlines

Pegasus Airlines

IATA H9 ICAO PGT Callsign SUNTURK
Founded	1989
Hubs	Sabiha Gökçen International Airport
Focus cities	Antalya Airport
Fleet size	24 (+20 on order)
Destinations	70
Parent company	Pegasus Hava Taşımacılığı A.Ş.
Headquarters	Istanbul, Turkey
Key people	Ali Sabancı, Sertaç Haybat
Website	http://www.flypgs.com/

Pegasus Airlines (Pegasus Hava Taşımacılığı A.Ş.) is a low-cost carrier headquartered in the Halkalı area of Küçükçekmece, Istanbul, Turkey.^[1] Formerly a charter airline in partnership with Aer Lingus, Pegasus is now completely independent.

History

A Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-800 lands at Bristol International Airport, England

On 1 December 1989 two businesses, Net and Silkar, partnered with Aer Lingus to create an inclusive tour charter airline called Pegasus Airlines and services were inaugurated on 15 April 1990 with two Boeing 737-400s. However, four months after the launch, Iraq invaded Kuwait and the seven month occupation that followed had a serious affect on Turkish tourism.^[2]

By 1992, tourists began returning to the country and Pegasus grew with the acquisition of a third 737-400. The airline leased a further two Airbus A320s to meet the summer demand.^[2]

After two positive years, Aer Lingus and Net sold their shares in the company in 1994 to Istanbul based Yapi Kreditbank, making Pegasus a purely Turkish company.^[2]

On 4 September 1997, Pegasus placed an order for one 737-400 and one 737-800 from Boeing Commercial Airplanes making it the first Turkish carrier to place an order for the Boeing 737 Next Generation. The airline also signed lease agreements for a further 10 737-800s from the ILFC.^[2]

In January 2005, ESAS Holdings purchased Pegasus Airlines and placed Ali Sabanci as the chairman. Two months later, he changed the airline from a Charter airline, to a Low-Cost airline. In November 2005, Pegasus placed an order for 12 new 737-800s from Boeing which was backed up with an order for a further 12 737-800s in November 2008. The latter order has flexibility in it as the orders can be changed to the 149-seat 737-700 or the 215-seat 737-900 depending on market demand.^[2]

In 2007, Pegasus carried more passengers in Turkey than any other private airline. In 2008, it carried a total of 4.4 million passengers. ^[3]

In Greek mythology, Pegasus (Greek: Πήγασος, Pégasos, 'strong') was a winged horse sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa.^{[citation needed]}

Destinations

Pegasus Airlines has charter and scheduled services to 70 airports in Europe and Asia.

Fleet

The Pegasus Airlines fleet comprises the following aircraft (as of 27 November 2009)^[4][5]:

As of 10 November 2009, the average age of the Pegasus Airlines fleet is 6.7 years ([1]).

Cabin

Pegasus Airlines operates a one-class interior configuration on all of their aircraft. A "Flying Cafe" is available to all passengers whereby hot meals are provided for an additional charge. Pegasus is also considering installing In-Flight-Entertainment and charging for headphones (currently, only overhead screens are available on selected 737-800s and they only show a computer-generated map showing the flights progress).^[2]

Training and Maintenance

Unlike most low-cost carriers, Pegasus runs its own flight crew training centre and Maintenance organisation, Pegasus Technic. Both centres are fully licensed and are used to train new staff members both on the ground and in the air.^[2][6]

Codeshare agreements

• Air Berlin^[7]

References

External links

• Pegasus Airlines

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