Pegasus Airlines launches flights between Dubai and Istanbul

Continuing to expand its network, Pegasus Airlines has launched scheduled flights between Dubai and Istanbul starting on October 18. Ali Sabanci, the Chairman of Pegasus Airlines, who hosted representatives of the Dubai media, spoke about the launch of the new route saying that Pegasus clinches its existence in the Middle East with the addition of Dubai, the 5th destination at the region:

“Pegasus makes flying easy and very affordable. Our low-cost product is now serving guests in a total of 62 destinations in 26 countries, and with our Dubai flights we are serving the 5th destination in Middle East. We have made flying more accessible in this region for our guests by widening our flight network in the Middle East, after Europe, the Balkans, and the Caucasus. With the potential and opportunities that they hold for Pegasus the Middle East, the Balkans, and the Caucasus are a priority for us. In particular the United Arab Emirates, which consists of 7 emirates with a total population of 8.5 million, already has 7.6 million tourists flying internationally to only Dubai itself. Within the 1.5 months following the start of our Dubai flights, we have flown 6,477 guests to Dubai and 41% of these guests flew at discounted prices.”

“We believe that this region has a huge potential to fly with our competitive prices. So with our scheduled flights, our 92.42% of on-time performance in the first 11 months of 2012 and our fleet with the age of 3.12 years old, we introduced and continue to introduce our guests to the ‘Pegasus way of flying.’ We create a competitive environment for airline guests within the countries we fly, and we continue to grow with the new Dubai route. We were chosen the fastest-growing European airline of 2011. Our services will now benefit Dubai,” Ali Sabanci added.

Dubai-Istanbul flights started on October 18, with guests being able to fly to Istanbul every Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Pegasus guests can make 34 international connections from Dubai: Almaty, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Beirut, Milan, Bologna, Brussels, Basel, Batumi, Cologne, Copenhagen, Donetsk, Dusseldorf, St. Etienne/Lyon, North Cyprus, Roma, Kharkiv, Tahran, Krasnodar, Lviv, Marseille, Munich, Omsk, Paris, Bucharest, Pristina, Skopje, London, Stuttgart, Berlin, Tbilisi, Tel Aviv, Vienne, Zurich and can also make connections to Adana, Yzmir, Kayseri, Antalya, Batman, Bodrum, Diyarbakyr, Dalaman, Erzincan, Ankara, Elazya, Þanlyurfa, Gaziantep, Hatay, Konya, Malatya, Samsun, Sivas, Trabzon, and Van in Turkey.

Pegasus Airlines was established in Istanbul in 1990, as Turkey’s well-known private airline company and is part of ESAS Holding which is owned by Turkey’s well-known family Sabancy Family.

Pegasus Airlines began its first domestic scheduled flights on November 1, 2005, creating and implementing Turkey’s first full low-cost airline strategy. By selecting Sabiha Gokcen Airport as its principal airport and hub, Pegasus Airlines has introduced the Turkish public to easy, comfortable, and low-cost flying.