FARNBOROUGH—Pegasus Airlines has no desire to join the “big boy” LCCs of Europe and remains content with its plans to achieve growth within the current range provided by an all-narrowbody fleet.
In the next five to 10 years, the airline will “invest in its own network expansion internationally,” said CEO Güliz Öztürk, adding that Pegasus does not currently intend to pursue any widebody additions to the fleet.
Pegasus is still taking deliveries of an Airbus order first placed in 2012 for 100 A320neo-family aircraft—and later expanded to 150. The airline expects to receive another 63 in the coming years, anticipating 16 deliveries in 2024, noting it has been affected by Airbus delivery delays to the tune of about 2-3 weeks.
While manageable, “even 2-3 weeks for a July aircraft is so critical for an airline,” she said at the Airline Leaders Summit here on the first day of Farnborough Airshow. “We plan a year ahead, two years ahead.”
Closer collaboration is needed with manufacturers and supply chain in order to better anticipate delays, Öztürk stressed. “The predictability should be there,” the CEO said.
Pegasus' current aircraft delivery string takes the airline to the end of 2029, and “we may need a top-up,” Öztürk acknowledged. The airline has previously said it intends to decide on future narrowbody orders in the near term. Pegasus currently has an in-service fleet of 108, according to Aviation Week Network’s Fleet Discovery database, comprising A320ceos (6), A320neos (46), A321neos (47) and Boeing 737-800s (9), with an average age of 4.5 years.
“There’s still room for growth” Ozturk said, pointing to its 105 international destinations to 53 different countries, while describing an ability to serve 67 countries within its existing range capabilities. “Domestic growth is still possible as well,” Öztürk said.
While still seeing opportunity for growth ahead, Pegasus has observed surging post-pandemic demand starting to normalize and passengers again beginning to seek out the lowest available fares. In 2023 Pegasus yields were up by roughly 15% when compared to 2019. In 2024, it expects yields to be flat.
“With all this capacity growth we will be focusing again on load factors,” Öztürk said. “And we’ll get the load factors.”
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