Pegasus History

Pegasus Airlines was founded in Istanbul in 1990 as a joint venture by three companies – Aer Lingus, Silkar Investment and Net Holding - with the belief that everybody has the right to fly. It changed the way that the aviation sector operated. Having launched its first flight in May 1990, Pegasus was bought outright by ESAS Holding in January 2005. Ali Sabanci is now Chairman and Sertac Haybat is CEO.

Under the management of ESAS Holding, Pegasus Airlines has undergone a transformation responding with a dynamic and flexible approach to their guests’ expectations. Pegasus led the field among airlines by introducing the 'low cost model', which became the company trademark. By choosing Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport as its main hub, Pegasus brought an affordable and accessible way of flying to the Turkish public. Pegasus Airlines introduced its first domestic flights on 1 November 2005.

Starting with only two aircraft, Pegasus, in partnership with IZair, now has a fleet of 43 including state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800s. Building on the success of its 20-year operation, Pegasus has now become one of the leading airline companies in Turkey.

Today Pegasus Airlines operates 35 Boeing 737-800s, 2 Boeing 737-400s plus 3 Boeing 737-800s, 2 Airbus A319s, and 1 Airbus A320s with IZair. With this fleet Pegasus now flies to a total of 52 destinations in 24 countries.

For its schedule within Turkey Pegasus serves Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul, Izmir, Kayseri, Konya, Malatya, Mardin, Samsun, Sivas, Sanliurfa, Trabzon and Van. Internationally Pegasus has scheduled flights to Almaty, Amsterdam, Athens, Basel, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Bucharest, Cologne, Copenhagen, Donetsk, Dusseldorf, Erbil, Kharkov, Krasnodar, London, Marseilles, Milan, Munich, Nicosia, Paris, Pristina, Rome, St Etienne/Lyon, Skopje, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Tbilisi, Tehran, Vienna and Zurich.

In order to provide its guests with secure, comfortable and punctual flights Pegasus is always aiming for the highest operational standards. The Turkish Directorate General of Civil Aviation has certified Pegasus Airlines’ services as conforming to standards JAR-OPS 1 and JAR-FCL. In addition SGS awarded ISO 9001-2000 Certification to Pegasus Airlines under the UK’s UKAS accreditation scheme.

Still leading the field among airlines with its groundbreaking 'low cost model' in Turkey, Pegasus Airlines offers its guests economic, safe and punctual travel opportunities by making 'high cost' investments in flight security and technology. In April 2011 Pegasus invested $22.3 million in two innovative technologies, as a result becoming a groundbreaking airline in the history of world aviation. Pegasus has also built a flight training centre with the latest flight simulation technology, this new equipment putting it into the top 10% of companies out of the world's 582 airlines with such a simulator. It is also the first airline company in the world to integrate the Groundlink End to End Network Solutions System with its fleet.

Pegasus is now offering maintenance services to other companies in the airline sector, while also offering crew, pilot and technical education.

Under the ownership of ESAS Holding, Pegasus Airlines serves 20 destinations within Turkey and 32 internationally. In April 2009 ESAS Holding purchased a 16.48% stake in airberlin, Germany's second and Europe's fifth largest airline, making it one of the largest shareholders in the company. Since September 2011 Pegasus and airberlin have started 'codeshare' flights together, flying from Berlin, Dusseldorf, Cologne and Munich in Germany to Istanbul with connections on to Ankara and Izmir.

Milestones