Turkish carrier Pegasus Airlines has confirmed rising passenger numbers and a strong growth in turnover, while also continuing its planned expansion and modernisation of its fleet.
The carrier, which late last year exercised an option within an existing 100-aircraft order placed in 2012 with Airbus for 25 A321neos, said related to the new additions to its fleet that it was “thus making headway in its efforts to expand its fleet and flight network.”
It now has 75 aircraft in its operational fleet and says 10 new aircraft will be added this year, with the first of these delivered last month.
In its financial results for 2017, Pegasus said it increased its passenger numbers by 15.2% last year to 27.82 million, while growing its turnover by 44% to 5.3 billion Turkish Lira (£1 billion). It’s annual net profit for 2017 was TL 501 million (£95 million).
Of its 27.82 million passengers, 16.89 million were on routes within Turkey and 10.45 million on its international routes. The carrier’s PAX numbers on routes within Turkey rose by 10.5% compared to the previous year, while numbers on its international routes grew by 21.7% year-on-year.
For this year, said CEO Mehmet T. Nane, the operator wants to increase its PAX numbers and capacity by between 11 and 13%.
2017 saw a cautious recovery in the aviation sector, he said, adding that “since last year, we have been saying that we predict real growth will begin in 2018. The positive trends in the sector and our own company confirm our beliefs. The figures show that we are heading in the right direction. The civil aviation sector is in a much better position generally and has managed to shake off the negative impact of the past few years.”
