Turkey’s Pegasus Airlines places huge aircraft order
Istanbul-based low-cost carrier, Pegasus Airlines, has placed an order of 100 Airbus A320 series aircraft – the largest single aircraft order in the history of Turkish civil aviation.
The deal will see Pegasus take delivery of a mix of 100 brand new A320neo and A321neo aircraft between 2015 and 2022, as it looks to expand its fleet and network. The A320neo series is the new, fuel-efficient version of the A320 series, which Airbus expects to enter commercial service in 2015. The A320neo will have a single-class capacity of up to 180 passengers, while the longer A321neo will seat up to 220. The deal is worth up to US$12 billion.
“When our first Pegasus flight took off, we had broken new ground by placing the biggest order in the history of Turkish private civil aviation at the time. Now, as we look ahead to the next decade, we know that, apart from human resources, an airline’s most important asset is its fleet. Thus, once again, we have said to ourselves, ‘this is not enough’, and so we continue to expand our fleet with this historic order of aircraft. This time it’s not just the largest order in the private civil aviation sector, but also the largest in the history of Turkish civil aviation,” said Pegasus Airlines’ Chairman, Ali Sabanci.
Pegasus started out as a charter airline in the 1990s but was taken over by ESAS Holdings in 2005 and turned into a low-cost carrier. It then ordered 12 Boeing 737s, and now operates a fleet of 40 Boeing single-aisle jets. The latest deal marks the first between Pegasus and Airbus.
“Turkey is rapidly developing into Europe’s most dynamic commercial aviation market and Pegasus is one of the major players within this transformation. We are very proud that Pegasus Airlines has become Airbus’ newest customer with such a significant order of new aircraft. We wish Pegasus the greatest success with its new A320neo fleet and look forward to a long-term partnership together,” said Christopher Buckley, Airbus’ Executive Vice President for Europe & Asia Pacific.