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Pegasus Airlines' secrets of success shared at the World Low Cost Airlines Congress 2014(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) LONDON -- Pegasus Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Guliz Ozturk and Vice President - Marketing Onur Dedekoylu took part in the 11th World Low Cost Airlines Congress by special invitation again this year at the Business Design Centre on 16-17 September. Trajectory to success Guliz Ozturk took part in the panel discussion 'How can you use a mixed distribution strategy to tap into the higher yield segments & how does a low-cost carrier actually meet the higher expectations of a business traveller?'. Ozturk, sharing Pegasus' experience with a wide range of industry experts, commented "We adopted a multichannel strategy from the beginning in 2005 and then within 2-3 years we added GDS (Global Distribution System) into our channels. We did so because Istanbul is located in such a well position that it serves as a destination connecting east to west and we use this as a competitive advantage. GDSs and agencies play an important role for getting such connecting traffic while it is also a preferred channel still for the business segment. Our guests' sales behaviour changes depending on whether they are purchasing for leisure or business purposes. We are offering a variety of ways to reach us. For the former they will come to us through our website which is the main sales channel for us, while business or connecting traffic may prefer to use GDSs and agencies. Being a low cost carrier, we all are aware that sales channels other than online have higher distribution costs; however in our case we overcome this by adding the channel cost onto the ticket fare, so the cost is covered by the customer himself who prefers other channels than the online. " Director of Marketing for Pegasus, Onur Dedekoylu, also took part in a panel discussion titled 'How can you deliver a truly personalised online shopping experience for the digital traveller across different platforms?' where Dedekoylu emphasized the increasingly intimate relationships travellers have with high tech gadgets and developing strategies in light of these new relationships will play a key role in how online shopping experience evolves in the future. Pegasus' stellar growth story Pegasus Airlines is now one of Europe's leading low-cost airlines, flying to 86 destinations in 36 countries. It flew 78.4 million guests between 2005 and the first half of 2014, and its expansion is continuing with more routes in Europe, the Middle East, Russia, North Africa and the Caucasus. Due to its continuous expansion, Pegasus was named "The Fastest Growing Airline" of Europe's major scheduled airlines in terms of seat capacity for 2011, 2012 and 2013 by the Official Airline Guide (OAG). Pegasus has expanded its international network during 2014 with new routes into western Europe, the Balkans, Russia and the Middle East, its new destinations including Budapest, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, Kuwait, Madrid, Mineralnye Vody and Prague. Expanding into the African continent for the first time, Pegasus will commence scheduled flights to Egypt's Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada as of 23 October 2014. Flight-comparison website WhichAirline named Pegasus the most affordable airline in its comparison of 20 low-cost airlines in November 2013. Pegasus has the youngest fleet in Turkey. As of 1 September 2014, Pegasus has expanded its fleet to include two Boeing 737-800s, bringing the fleet size to 54 with an average age of 4.60 years. In December 2012 Pegasus made the single largest-ever aircraft order in Turkish civil aviation history at the time of approximately US$12 billion (list price) for 100 new Airbus aircraft (of which 25 are optional). On 26 April 2013, Pegasus offered a 34.5% stake of itself to the public and began trading on the Istanbul Stock Exchange under the code 'PGSUS'. Continuing to expand during the first half of 2014, Pegasus' sales income rose by 33% compared to the same period last year. The data for Turkey's aviation sector show that Pegasus grew 1.4 times faster than the rest of the Turkish domestic market for its domestic flights and 1.7 faster for its international flights during the first six months of 2014. Pegasus' share of the domestic market rose from 26.7% to 28% and its share of the international market from 9.1% to 9.8% during the January-June period. Pegasus Airlines' Vice President - Marketing Onur Dedekoylu is available for interviews. www.terrapinn.com/conference/world-low-cost-airlines-congress/index.stm Official website: www.flypgs.com/en Facebook: www.facebook.com/pegasusairlines Twitter: www.twitter.com/flymepegasus YouTube: www.youtube.com/pegasusairlines Notes to Editors: About Guliz Ozturk A graduate of Bosphorus University, Istanbul, Guliz Ozturk worked for Turkish Airlines for 13 years in various positions including as International Relations Manager, VP Alliances, VP Marketing and her final post as SVP Sales and Marketing. During her time there she launched their first website including online sales, as well as the introduction of FFP and the co-credit card partnership among other important projects. In 2005 Ozturk joined Pegasus Airlines as the Head of Scheduled Flights so as to commence scheduled operations for a company which was still a charter operator at the time. She is a member of the team that successfully transformed Pegasus from a charter operator into Turkey's first and only low-cost carrier. Ozturk is currently Chief Commercial Officer of Pegasus. About Onur Dedekoylu Onur Dedekoylu started his career at Gillette Company in sales and marketing. He then worked for Kimberly Clark at their healthcare global headquarters in Atlanta, USA. He continued his career in the UK, working in the European marketing department of Hasbro in market research and product development. Later on, he worked in Hasbro's UK marketing department as Senior Brand Manager. Onur continued his career at Coca-Cola Company as Group Brand Manager of the Coca-Cola brand in Turkey. Onur is currently Pegasus Airlines' Marketing Director, heading up brand management, CRM & loyalty, online marketing, e-commerce channel management, ancillary (value-added) services development and planning, and corporate communications functions. He studied industrial engineering at Bosphorus University and also holds an MBA degree in marketing and finance from Georgia State University in Atlanta, USA. About the World Low Cost Airlines Congress The World Low Cost Airlines Congress is the biggest and most important event for low-cost carriers with over 400 senior executives from the world's airlines and partners attending this year. For further press information and/or to request an interview, please contact: Serra Celikkan / Rebecca Erol Redmint Communications + 44 (0)20 3397 3936 [email protected] . (c) 2014 M2 COMMUNICATIONS |