Low Cost Airlines of the World: Fly Pegasus, a link between East and West

A large country like Turkey could not afford not to have its own low-cost airline. And because Turkey has such a strategic location, between Asia and Europe, it is impossible this low cost not to be a very good connector between West and East… so, today, I will present you Pegasus Airlines, the largest Turkish low-cost airline.

At the beginning, a bit of history. Pegasus Airlines appeared in 1989 as a charter airline with the Irish carrier Aer Lingus amongst its owners. The first Gulf War had a strong impact on the Turkish tourism, so, Pegasus Airlines had to wait other few years in order to start bringing sun-lovers from Western Europe in the sun-kissed Antalya. The company passed through several hands, Aer Lingus went out, until 2005 when the new owners, of Turkish nationality decided to open the first Turkish low-cost carrier. It was a great idea as Pegasus has been a success since.

Currently, Pegasus has a quite large fleet – 39 Boeing 737s, all very new – the average age is around 4 years, quite unheard of in the case of national carriers. It is not only one of the newest, but also one of the most punctual airlines in Europe – 90% of its flights land on time ! So, Pegasus is one of the few low-cost airlines who can sell you transfer tickets. You want to fly from Amsterdam to Tbilisi ? You can buy an all-through ticket with guaranteed transfer (including luggage transfer), while most of other low cost airlines would sell you only Amsterdam – Istanbul and separately, Istanbul – Tbilisi, leaving you with the risk of not getting the connection. Did I write “luggage” ? Well, an extra benefit – in the case of Pegasus Airlines, the price of luggage transportation is included, it is not one of the extra-money milked by Ryanair and like.

The hub of Pegasus is the second airport of Istanbul – the efficient Sabiha Gokcen, located in the Asian part of the city. It is definitely, further than the main airport, Ataturk, but if you want to pick up one of the other low-cost airlines flying into India, Nepal or other parts of Central Asia and Africa, this is the ideal place – both Fly Dubai and Air Arabia fly to Sabiha Gokcen, not to Ataturk. However, if your final destination is the exciting city of Istanbul, don’t worry… Turkey has probably the most expensive gasoline in Europe, so, the taxis would cost accordingly, but Havas shuttle will bring you to the city center for just 12 liras (6 euro) with departures each half an hour.

But, where does Fly Pegasus fly ? Firstly, in many places in Western Europe. Do you see a significant number of Turks on the streets ? Be sure, Pegasus flies to a close-to-you airport. It also flies in South–Central Europe (Bucharest, Sofia, Athens, Pristina, Skopje). It also covers quite a few domestic destinations, but it is gateway to Caucasus (flying to Tbilisi and Baku), to Middle East (flying to Beirut, Tel Aviv, Erbil and Teheran) and also in the ex-USSR more off-beaten destinations (Donetsk, Omsk, Kharkiv or Krasnodar) and even to Central Asia (Almaty, the business capital of Kazahstan).

So, in case you plan a trip to Caucasus, Iran, Lebanon, Kurdistan or ex-USSR, you will not regret the minutes of checking up the fares of Fly Pegasus !

As I have never flied Pegasus Airlines, maybe some of you have used their services, so, please, write your comments here :).

And don’t forget you can obtain Turkey Visa quickly by applying online