Pegasus boosts network in Turkish capital

Turkish low-cost carrier (LCC) Pegasus Airlines is embarking on a major expansion of services to and from Ankara.

Although Ankara, in the interior of the country, is the nation’s capital, most international and domestic flights operate through Istanbul’s two airports—Ataturk International and Sabiha Gökçen.

From later this month, Pegasus will be adding eight new routes operating out of Ankara Esenboga Airport to and from Trabzon, Antalya, Adana, Van, Gaziantep, Erzurum, Diyarbakir and Balikesir-Edremit. The airline will then be flying 11 domestic routes from Ankara, adding to the current three routes to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen, Izmir and Bodrum.

The expansion of flights serving Ankara is part of a strategy to create new hubs beyond Istanbul in an attempt to open up new markets. Turkey has a population of almost 80 million and Pegasus already operates a dense domestic network covering around 30 destinations.

“Our vision is to transform Ankara into an international flight hub,” Pegasus CEO Mehmet Nane said.

He added that Turkey would need more hubs and the development of its airport infrastructure to support the transit market and the growth of direct flights. “For this reason we are expanding our network from Ankara, a market of great importance to Pegasus. 

“We … have increased our Ankara-operated internal flights within Turkey to 11 and we are in the process of negotiations to open new international routes between Ankara and Northern Cyprus, Erbil, Amman, Kiev, Vienna, Stuttgart, Cologne, Dusseldorf and—for the summer season—Brussels Charleroi and Stockholm. 

“In the near future when we launch our new international routes we will be transforming the airport to a new international hub.”