Pegasus Airlines is a Turkish low-cost carrier and the country's second-largest airline. Starting as a charter carrier in the 1990s, today it operates scheduled flights with a mixed Airbus and Boeing fleet out of its five bases in Turkey and one in Northern Cyprus. It has codeshare agreements with several different airlines and carried close to 31 million passengers on domestic and international routes in 2019.

In the beginning

Pegasus Airlines was founded in December 1989 through a partnership between two Turkish companies, Net and Silkar, who worked alongside Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus to establish their own charter airline. The new carrier commenced operations in April 1990, starting off small with just two Boeing 737-400 jets.

Pegasus Airlines ultimately made quite a slow start to its life as a charter carrier, admittedly due to factors beyond its own control. Indeed, for its first two years, the carrier suffered, along with the wider Turkish tourism industry in general, from Iraq's occupation of Kuwait and the volatile situation in the area.

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Net and Aer Lingus ultimately sold their shares in the carrier to Istanbul-based Yapi Kredibank in 1994. By then, Pegasus Airlines had added one more 737-400 and leased two Airbus A320s for its fleet. Further growth has followed, and, today, Pegasus is Turkey's second-largest airline, with a fleet of 107 aircraft serving 129 domestic and international destinations, according to ch-aviation.com.

Safety record

Despite its impressive growth, Pegasus Airlines hasn't compromised on safety and sports a relatively good record in this regard. According to the Aviation Safety Network, its only fatal accident occurred in February 2020, when three passengers died after a Pegasus Boeing 737-800 broke apart following a runway overrun.

Pioneering aircraft orders

Over the years, Pegasus Airlines has achieved several significant firsts for a Turkish carrier. For example, it became the first carrier in the country to purchase an aircraft from the Boeing 737NG family, when it placed an order for one 737-800 in 1997. Furthermore, it signed lease agreements with the International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) for an additional ten examples of the type.

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Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-800 Taxiing In Cologne
Photo: Bjoern Wylezich/Shutterstock

Fifteen years later, by which time it had been acquired by Esas Holding in 2005, Pegasus Airlines became the first carrier in Turkey to purchase the A320neo when it signed up for its first Airbus order in 2012. It was a substantial order, marking the largest by any Turkish airline up until that date. The carrier agreed to take no less than 75 aircraft from the A320neo family, with options for another 25.

Many more planes to come

Today, Pegasus Airlines operates a fleet of 107 aircraft with an average age of 8.9 years old. 15 planes are Boeing 737-800s, averaging 9.3 years old, and the carrier also has a single 737 MAX 8 on lease. Also presently on lease at Pegasus Airlines are two Airbus A330s, comprising one -200 and one -300 model each.

In terms of narrowbody Airbus jets, the airline has 10 A320-200s at 10.8 years on average, as well as 46 A320neos and 33 A321neos, which are 4.7 and 1.5 years old on average, respectively. Meanwhile, the has orders for an additional 76 Airbus aircraft, with all of these being for the stretched-fuselage A321neo.

Widespread operations

In 2011, Pegasus and Air Berlin launched Air Berlin Turkey. However, the carrier was absorbed under Pegasus' own brand two years later. In 2012, Pegasus purchased 49% of the Kyrgyz carrier Air Manas. The first flight under the brand Pegasus Asia was operated in March 2013 between Istanbul and Bishkek.

Pegasus Airlines Airbus A321neo Taking Off
Photo: Airbus

All of Pegasus' aircraft have a one-class configuration, and its bases are in Istanbul, Adana, Ankara, Antalya, and Izmir in Turkey, as well as Ercan International in Northern Cyprus. Pegasus also runs its own flight training center and its own maintenance facilities known as Pegasus Technic and has codeshare agreements with KLM, Flynas, Qatar Airways, Delta Air Lines, ITA Airways, and Nile Air.

Sources: Airliners.de, Aviation Safety Network, ch-aviation.com, Pegasus Airlines