Turkey's second largest airline Pegasus announced Thursday that it decided to use its 25-plane option to purchase from European aeronautics giant Airbus for A321neo's, which was agreed as part of its purchasing order for 100 aircraft in 2012.
Pegasus General Manager Mehmet Nane explained that the $12 billion order for 100 aircraft in 2012 was the single largest order in Turkish civilian aviation history at the time.
"We started receiving the first aircraft for this order in the third quarter of 2016. Now we have agreed with Airbus to have the 25 optional aircraft in our fleet," Nane said.
Five of the total 25 Airbus A321neo will be delivered to Pegasus by 2022, while 10 planes will be delivered each year in 2023 and 2024. As part of the 100-aircraft order, A321neo's constitute 43 aircraft and the rest are A320neo's.
"We will continue to expand our fleet step by step and to provide a more comfortable flying experience to our customers with our new planes," Nane said.
Nane added that Turkey strengthens its position in the global aviation market every day and as Pegasus, they are one of the key players of this transformation.
John Leahy, the chief operation officer (COO) of Airbus, said that the order of Pegasus for A321neo ACF product proves that Airbus provides the best, the most efficient and the most comfortable solution in middle segment.
