Pegasus Airlines’ financial results for the first half of 2014 show its sales income rose by 33 per cent, compared to 2013, achieving a gross profit of 86.4 million Turkish Liras ($39.9 million).
The Turkish airline’s share of the domestic market rose to 28 per cent and the international market to 9.8 per cent, compared to last year. According to Pegasus, the data for Turkey’s aviation sector shows that Pegasus grew 1.4 times faster than the rest of the domestic market for its flights in Turkey and 1.7 faster for its international flights, during the first six months of 2014.
Pegasus Airlines’ general manager, Sertac Haybat, says: “We will continue to be one of Europe’s fastest-growing low-cost airlines in the coming period with our high rate of average daily aircraft utilisation and our recent aircraft order to the value of $12.2 billion.”
Haybat is referring to what his airline claims is the, “single largest-ever aircraft order in Turkish civil aviation history,” for 100 new Airbus aircraft, of which 25 are optional. The $12.2 billion value is based on the list price of an individual Airbus aircraft, like the Airbus A321neo. Its list price is $120 million. However, for orders as large as these, Pegasus could have negotiated a discount. The first half year results outperform the first quarter figures, which saw Pegasus increase its domestic market share to 27.3 per cent, compared to 2013, and raise its international position to 11.6 per cent, again, compared to the same period last year.
The airline’s overall market share increased from 13.7 per cent to 14.4 per cent. For the first quarter and the first half of the year, Pegasus claims it grew 1.4 times faster than the rest of Turkish aviation. During the first quarter the airline did expand its network to 80 destinations in 31 countries, with the addition of four new routes to the German cities of Frankfurt and Hamburg, and Spain’s Madrid and Kuwait. In May, Haybat said: “I can say with confidence though that we will continue to grow and expand as the rest of the year progresses.”