Pegasus Airlines to hire 150 new pilots

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s leading low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines plans to add 150 new pilots to its crew, according to the company’s general manager.

“At the end of this year, the candidates selected to be pilots will start receiving their trainings, which will last for two years,” Mehmet Nane said.

Those who have successfully completed the training program will start to fly as co-pilots on Pegasus airplanes in 2020, the executive added.

Nane noted that Pegasus has signed an agreement with flight training schools and universities to hire young people who are currently receiving flight trainings.

Fast growing sector

Nane said that the Turkish aviation industry has shown a very strong growth after 2003 when the local aviation sector was liberalized.

At the end of 2006, the local industry already reached a size which international agencies had predicted Turkey could only see at the end of 2015, according to Nane.

“Turkey received a record number of visitors last year and it targets 70 million tourists and $70 billion revenues from tourism activity. The local aviation industry will handle the transport of those tourists,” he said.

Pegasus reported in May that it served a total of 11.31 million passengers in January-May this year, compared to 11.83 million travelers in the same period of last year.

In 2018, the airline carried nearly 30 million passengers, up from 27.8 million people it served a year ago.