Stansted to Turkey fares cut

[January 19th 2009]

Holidays in Turkey are set to get cheaper with the introduction of lower fares from Stansted airport.

Low cost airline Pegasus Airlines is today launching new lower prices from Stansted to Istanbul. The airline will fly five times a week from Stansted to Istanbul and on to northern Cyprus (Ercan) with fares starting from £39.99 one way including taxes and charges.

Flights leave Stansted at 12.45, arriving in Istanbul at 18.20. Return flights depart from Istanbul at 10.20, reaching Stansted at 12.05.

To publicise the new cheaper fares Pegasus Airlines is rolling out a print and online advertising campaign across Europe. The new campaign highlights the “hot prices to this year’s hottest destination, Turkey”. Holidays in Turkey are expected to become more popular this year as the country lies outside the eurozone.

Pegasus has also announced that it will launch daily flights from Stansted to Istanbul/northern Cyprus in April plus direct flights to the holiday hotspot of Bodrum from May 4th with prices starting from £85.99 one way including taxes and charges.

"Europe is an important market for us, with annual growth projected at approximately 20 percent,” comments Pegasus Airlines chairman, Ali Sabanci.

From Istanbul, Pegasus offers connecting flights to 13 popular Turkish holiday resorts. These include Antalya, from £85.99 one way, and Izmir on the Aegean, from £65.99 one way.

The airline was founded in 1990 and is Turkey’s second largest airline after the national flag carrier. Pegasus began scheduled flights in November 2005 and is now Turkey’s fastest growing airline.

The airline boasts an on-time performance average of 91% and is the first Turkish airline to publish its monthly on-time performance figures online. Pegasus has a total of 21 Boeing 737-800s on order, and says it is on its way to having the youngest aircraft fleet in Turkey. It expects to grow its fleet from 14 aircraft now to 38 by 2015.

Written by: Nick Purdom