Highlighting the airline's strong recovery and increasing guest numbers in 2017, Ozturk said: ³Despite tough times for the industry and the region, we're optimistic for the rest of 2017 and forecasting growth following a recovery in demand. Already we have carried 12.6 million guests in the first half of this year, growing 12.5% year-on-year and we're on course for 11-13% year-on-year growth in guest traffic. We've also achieved growth load factors in the first half of 2017, up 5.9% year on year, together with capacity growth of 4.5%.

Discussing the factors contributing to the recovery and Ozturk said: ³With a focus on our 3Cs business strategy this year to streamline Cask, Cash and Capacity we have been able to weather the market conditions and remain as Türkiye's fastest growing airline. A strong domestic market in Türkiye and growing traffic from all the regions we connect via our hub and spoke model ¬ including Europe, the Middle East, Russia and Ukraine ¬ has meant we're on track to meet and exceed the targets for 2017. It's been supported by network growth with the launch of new destinations including Abu Dhabi and four destinations in Russia ¬ as well as from our new second hub in Ankara.

Stressing the importance of Pegasus' continual investment in its new fleet to business performance and improving the guest experience Ozturk confirmed that Pegasus has increased the number of new A320 Neo purchases planned for 2017 from 3 to 6. Ozturk said: ³We already have the youngest fleet in Türkiye and one of the youngest in Europe comprising 77 aircraft with an average age of 5.80 years - and with the new deliveries, the average age will fall even further as we look to create our fleet of the future to improve the customer experience, drive efficiencies and reduce our environmental impact across the board ¬ a vital part of our strategy to transform travel in our region.

Founded with the mission that everyone has the right to fly and having launched its scheduled services in 2005, Pegasus Airlines is now, in just over a decade, Türkiye's leading low-cost airline and one of the region's frontrunners with a growing network of 108 destinations, including 36 in Türkiye and 72 other international destinations in 40 countries across Europe, Russia and the Caucasus, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.