One of my best budget airline experiences yet! (Pegasus Airlines)

Member Name: BabyGirl08x

Product:	Pegasus Airlines
Date:	04/05/08 (484 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice service, on time, cheap, free soft drinks.

Disadvantages: no television, not alot of legroom.

- History -
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Pegasus is a Turkish airline based in Istanbul, Turkey. With a hub at Antalya Airport. It was established in December 1989 and started operations on 15 April 1990. It was previously owned by Aer Lingus, but was sold in 1994. Pegasus Airlines is Turkeys oldest airline has the safest records and has no incidents, unlike other Turkish companies such as, Onur Air and Turkish Airlines.

- Current Fleet -
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Pegasus Airlines has a fleet of three different types of Boeing.

Boeing 737 - 800
Pegasus Airlines has 12 of these aircrafts. They cruise at a speed of 858KM/H making this aircraft the fastest of their fleet and can hold 177/189 passengers making this aircraft holding the most passengers of their fleet. They have the widest seat pitch out of all their aircrafts at a pitch of 29-32 inches. One of these aircrafts is operated for Somon Air. Another one of these aircrafts are being operated for Asia Continental Airlines and another two are being operated for Kam Air.

Boeing 737 - 400
Pegasus Airlines has 2 of these aircrafts. They cruise at a speed of 797KM/H and can hold 170 passengers. They have a seat pitch of 29 - 30 inches.

Boeing 737 - 500
Pegasus Airlines has 3 of these aircrafts. They also cruise at a speed of 797KM/H, as their Boeing 737 - 400 does likewise. These aircrafts have the smallest passenger capacity of their fleet, holding only 131 passengers. However, they also have a seat pitch of 29 - 30 like their Boeing 737 - 400.

Pegasus Airlines also have 2 Boeing 737 - 300. However, these are operated by Corendon Airlines.
Altogether, Pegasus Airlines have 19 aircrafts, including the 4 operated for other airlines, and the two Boeing 737 - 300 owned by Corendon. Pegasus' average fleet age is 8 years old. There original
aircraft design is a white body with red outlines on their in-use and emergency doors. The tail is designed by a white Pegasus (Greek flying horse), and a yellow background. Their aircrafts design varies though, as some of their aircrafts had Pegasus' website and number on the body, and some aircrafts have the new aircraft design, which is a mix of colours on the body. So, in a nutshell the airlines fleet is rather young and healthy, there have been no recorded incidents with the airline and no major technical problems with the aircrafts.

- Safety & Quality -
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The airline goes down hard on safety. The cabin crew is trained to the highest standards at their Flight Academy centres and meets with the rules and standards of both the Turkish Department of Transport and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (SHGM). Their content of training is updated regularly and they ensure training is to the highest standards in the following sections: Emergency Procedures, CRM, Dangerous Goods, First Aid, and Aviation Security. The airline certainly does it's best to apply all national and international flight and ground safety regulations and standards.
Pegasus airlines also takes on line, and in-flight written feedback seriously to improve quality in the air and on the ground. The take great interest in ensuring their operational efficiency is up to standard and providing on-time services to their passengers.

- Personal Experience -
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I am a regular flyer with Turkish airline companies. I have had some very disturbing experiences, and some very enjoyable ones. Turkish airline aircrafts are usually not as up to standard as British ones. When I say up to standards, I mean Turkish airline companies wont have the luxuries British ones have. For example, TV's, children's magazines, average legroom, spacious toilets. Although, some British airlines don't even have most of these itself. With the prices Turkish Companies set their flights at you can't really expect a lot, but with Pegasus Airlines, I received more than what I bargained for.

I booked my flight with MyTravel, a British tour operator, now Thomas Cook. It was a two week holiday package to Marmaris, Turkey. The whole holiday was approx. £600pp staying in a three star hotel. This may seem slightly pricey. Although, MyTravel is an expensive tour operator in comparison to other tour operator with operate flights to Turkey. Pegasus Airline flights are usually very cheap on their own if you book straight through the airline or an on line travel agent.

There was three check in desks open. Glasgow airport has only two terminals, so they were very easy to find. We had no problems at check in, the staff at check in worked for Servisair and did not mention that we were 3 kilo's overweight. We have had problems in the past with excess luggage but on the whole Servisair have been quite reasonable with overweight luggage. After check in we got right though security and the flight was bang on time. We didn't have to wait long for the aircraft to be off-loaded and cleaned, and in such short cleaning time the aircraft was spotless. We were greeted by a friendly looking lady who pointed out where our seats were exactly, the seats were comfortable with the exception of the legroom. I popped to the loo before take off, as I dislike using the toilet in the air. The toilets were perfectly clean and you could still see the bubbles in the in the little bit of water at the bottom, meaning the toilets must have been bleached. We didn't have to wait long before take off, safety demonstration was informative, and seatbelts were checked several times. We got a brief flight plan from the pilot, even though his English really sucked he did make an attempt. All the cabin crew's English really sucked but, hey! We can't expect the whole world to speak perfect English can we?

After a very smooth take off the cabin crew got straight to work. We didn't actually order a meal from our tour operator, but they were kind enough to provide one for us. I hate airline meals, but this was the best one I had tried so far. It was some type of Turkish dish, really couldn't explain what it was, some kind of chicken/rice dish. With a chocolate sort pudding for dessert. The best part of the whole flight was, the soft drinks are free! Which was definitely a bonus. The moment we had finished they collected our meals, on a few airlines we requested our meals be taken away from us, but most airlines have a cleaning-up schedule and don't remove any meals until everyone has finished. God, I hate that routine. Luckily this wasn't the case with Pegasus. They offered us several snacks at cheap prices, but we weren't too bothered about that. The next half hour of the flight went in pretty slowly. Oh and the big downer of Turkish airlines, no in flight entertainment. So we had to amuse ourselfs with the provided magazines. They were actually quite interesting, they provided loads of great information about Turkey, and even a special page where cabin crew members and pilots told us about their life in the sky. That was very interesting for me, as I hope to one day become an Airline pilot. Also, there was a section about your health in the sky, and also health in general. Not to forget the brilliant Turkish cusine dishes and recipies. The cabin crew apologised for not being able to provide tea and coffee on the flight, a lot of people were complaining about this. Pathetic ! If you payed £700pp on a business class flight on a major airline, yes, perhaps you should be pretty angry, but come on! Who can't last a 3 and a half hour flight without a cup of coffee.

After a while they dimmed down the cabin lights, a chance to catch some sleep. Several times I have asked for a blanket when travelling to Turkey on MyTravel airlines, and they have refused as it is a "short-haul flight". So, because its a short haul flight you can't feel sleepy? So, I automatically assumed Pegasus Airlines wouldn't provide either, seeing as it is a much cheaper airline. However, this wasn't the case. The girl kindly fetched me a blanket, it was very woolly, clean, and freshly packed in a plastic container. There was no pillows left, so I simply used my travel pillow, although it annoyed me after a few minutes, so I did without. The people sitting behind me were very large, no offence to them, and they were constantly complaining to each other because my seat was reclined. I decided to ignore this as I had payed an adult fare for the flight, so I had payed just as much as them. They then asked me to put my chair forward, after violently kicking the back of it. To keep the peace, I said nothing and set it back upright.

I was awakened from my sleep half an hour later with the announcement of landing. Unfortunately, I missed duty-free so I can't exactly review that. It was sunrise and we were landing over the shimming water. It was a lovely view. The blankets were collected and we were kindly offered complementary bottles of water for the 2 hour bus ride to the resort. It was the best landing I had ever encountered as the sun's reflection on the sea was perfect, well, that was until we passed over the beach and the whole area was dry ground and marsh land. Anyway, It was a very nice landing and very nice flight. We had no problem getting out the aircraft. We were told to leave in an orderly manner, basicly, by rows. It saved a lot of struggling and trouble. I can definitely say this has been the best Turkish airline I have flown on yet, and would not hesitate to use them again.

Returning flight wasn't so nice at all. There was a lot of turbulence, a girl took a fit, the cabin crew had no idea what to do, they weren't as smiley and friendly, but, the retuning flight is never as nice as the outbound flight.

- Booking -
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To book with Pegasus airlines, you really have to go through a travel agent. The website does not deal with charter flights itself. Pegasus operates from the following Uk airports

Bournemouth International Airport
London Stansted Airport
Manchester Airport
Lincolnshire Airport
Glasgow International Aiport

Also flying from other European destinations: Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Austria.

Woud I recommend Pegasus Airlines?
Well, if you don't really have high standards then, yes, I would recommended it. It has been one of the most pleasent economy budget-airline experiences yet.

Thankyou for reading ;)

Summary: If you haven't got high standards for airlines, then choose Pegasus!