Pegasus Airlines ( tr, Pegasus Hava Taşımacılığı A.Ş.) (), sometimes stylized as Flypgs, is a Turkish

low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

headquartered in the Kurtköy area of

Pendik Pendik is a district of Istanbul, Turkey on the Asian side between Kartal and Tuzla, on the Marmara Sea. Home to Sabiha Gökçen International Airport. Population is 711,894. It also neighbours Sultanbeyli, Sancaktepe and Çekmeköy from nor ...

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

with bases at several Turkish airports.

History

On 1 December 1989, two businesses, Net and Silkar, partnered with

Aer Lingus Aer Lingus ( ; an anglicisation of the Irish , meaning "air fleet" compare Welsh 'llynges awyr') is the flag carrier of Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 2015 and it is now a wholly owned subsidiar ...

to create an inclusive tour

charter airline Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...

called Pegasus Airlines and services were inaugurated on 15 April 1990 with two

Boeing 737-400 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...

s. In Greek mythology,

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

(Greek: Πήγασος ''Pégasos'', 'strong') was a winged horse sired by

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as ...

, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. However, four months after the launch, Iraq invaded Kuwait and the seven-month occupation that followed had a serious effect on Turkish tourism."Winged Horses over Istanbul" – ''

Airliner World ''Airliner World'' is an aviation magazine published by Key Publishing in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. In the United States, the magazine is distributed from Key Publishing office in Avenel, New Jersey. The first edition of ''Airliner World' ...

'', December 2008 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 A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the fam ...

s to meet the summer demand. After two positive years, Aer Lingus and Net sold their shares in the company in 1994 to Istanbul-based ''Yapı Kredi'' bank, making Pegasus a purely Turkish company. On 4 September 1997, Pegasus placed an order for one 737-400 and one 737-800 from

Boeing Commercial Airplanes Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) is a division of The Boeing Company. It designs, assembles, markets, and sells jet airliners and business jets (Boeing Business Jets), and also provides product-related maintenance and training to customers ...

, making it the first Turkish carrier to place an order for the

Boeing 737 Next Generation The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boeing ...

. The airline also signed lease agreements for a further 10 737-800s from the

ILFC The International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) was an aircraft lessor headquartered in the Constellation Place in Century City, Los Angeles, California, US. It was the world's largest aircraft lessor by value, though ILFC's rival, General E ...

. 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 had flexibility, as the orders could be changed to the 149-seat 737-700 or the 215-seat 737-900 depending on market demand. In 2018, Pegasus tried to acquire an A380 but later cancelled the order. In 2007, Pegasus had reached a domestic market share of 15%, which grew to 27% in 2013. In 2019, it carried a total of 29.87 million passengers. In November 2011, Air Berlin and Pegasus Airlines launched ''Air Berlin Turkey'', which was aimed at the charter market between Germany and Turkey. The new airline however was absorbed into Pegasus Airlines on 31 March 2013. In 2012, Pegasus Airlines, the second-largest airline in Turkey, signed for up to 100 A320neo Family aircraft (57 A320neo and 18 A321neo models), of which 75 were firm orders. Pegasus became a new Airbus customer and the first Turkish airline to order the A320neo. This was the largest single commercial aircraft order ever placed by an airline in Turkey at that time and was announced on 18 December 2012 at a ceremony attended by

Binali Yıldırım Binali Yıldırım (; born 20 December 1955) is a Turkish politician who served as the 27th and last Prime Minister of Turkey from 2016 to 2018 and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly from 2018 to 2019. He was Leader of the Justice and Deve ...

, the Turkish Minister of Transport. In June 2012, Pegasus Airlines bought 49% of the Kyrgyz air company

Air Manas Air Manas is a low-cost airline headquartered in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan with its base at Manas International Airport.offered 34.5% of its shares of stock to the public. The shares began to be traded at the Borsa Istanbul as on 26 April 2013. Pegasus_Airlines_Kid's_Drawing

Pegasus_Airlines_Kid's_Drawing_back_side

In October 2016, Pegasus Airlines announced it was offering three of its aircraft on the ACMI and leasing markets, stating severely decreasing passenger numbers.

Corporate affairs

Cabin

Pegasus Airlines operates a one-class interior configuration on all of its aircraft. A "Flying Cafe" is available to all passengers whereby food and beverages are provided for an additional charge. Pegasus is also considering installing

in-flight entertainment In-flight entertainment (IFE) refers to the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. In 1936, the airship '' Hindenburg'' offered passengers a piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar during the -day flight betwee ...

and charging for headphones (currently, only overhead screens are available on selected 737-800s and they only display a computer-generated map showing the flight's progress). All new Boeing 737-800s arrived after November 2011 have Boeing Sky Interior.

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.

Sponsorships

Pegasus Airlines was one of the official sponsors of Nef Stadium, the stadium of Turkish Football Club

Galatasaray S.K. Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

from 2011 to 2013.

Destinations

Codeshare agreements

Pegasus Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines: *

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along ...

* Flynas * ITA Airways *

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

* Nile Air * Qatar Airways

Fleet

Pegasus Airlines Airbus A320neo TC-NBR (48431871661)

Current fleet

, the Pegasus Airlines fleet consists of the following:

Historic fleet

* Airbus A300 *

Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...

* Boeing 737-500

Incidents and accidents

* On 10 March 2010, Pegasus Airlines Flight 361, an Airbus A319 operated by IZair on a ferry flight, made an emergency landing at

Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

after a malfunction in the nose gear. The flight landed safely but blew both front nose gear tires. The airport closed runway 07R/25L for 3 hours to allow recovery. The nose gear suffered the same problem as JetBlue Flight 292. * On 7 February 2014,

Pegasus Airlines Flight 751 There were many controversies and concerns affecting the 2014 Winter Olympics. There were disputes with Circassians, who demanded the events be cancelled or moved unless Russia apologized for the 19th century Circassian genocide, environmental a ...

, a

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...

, was the victim of an attempted hijacking by Ukrainian passenger Artem Kozlov who claimed he had a bomb on board. The passenger demanded to be flown to Sochi, the host city of the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympi ...

, where the Opening Ceremony was taking place. The plane landed safely in

. * On 13 January 2018, Pegasus Airlines Flight 8622, a Boeing 737-800 (registration ') from

Ankara Esenboğa Airport Ankara Esenboğa Airport ( tr, Ankara Esenboğa Havalimanı) is the international airport of Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It has been operating since 1955. In 2017, the airport has served more than 15 million passengers in total, 13 milli ...

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

to Trabzon Airport, veered off the wet runway at Trabzon, slid into the ground of an acutely angled cliff, and got stuck in the mud, which prevented the 41-tonne fuselage from skidding into the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

. All 168 people on board survived and there were no reported injuries. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. * On 7 January 2020, Pegasus Airlines Flight 747, a Boeing 737-800 (registration '), overran the runway on landing at Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tarif ...

: SAW). All on board evacuated via slides. There were no injuries. * On 5 February 2020, Pegasus Airlines Flight 2193, a Boeing 737-800 (registration '), overran the runway on landing at Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (

: SAW). The fuselage broke into three segments and an engine caught fire. Three passengers were killed and 179 were injured. * On 26 January 2021, Pegasus Airlines Flight PC939, an Airbus A320-251N, touched down on runway 15 at Basel Mulhouse-Freiburg EuroAirport with the nose landing gear rotated 90 degrees. The nosegear tyres ruptured as a result of the friction.

Data breach

A vulnerability in software developed by Turkish airline Pegasus has left 6.5 terabytes of data exposed online. The data breach, which comprises 23 million files including personal information of flight crew, is thought to have originated from a misconfigured ‘bucket’ on Amazon’s cloud service AWS.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pegasus Airlines Turkish brands Airlines established in 1989 Airlines of Turkey Sabancı family Companies based in Istanbul Companies listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange Airlines established in 1990 Pendik Low-cost carriers Turkish companies established in 1990