Pegasus Airlines Chairman of the Board Mehmet Tevfik Nane explained the background of the low-cost airline model on the İş Dünyası programme. Nane gave clear answers to many frequently asked questions, from ticket prices to baggage limits.
This week’s guest on İş Dünyası with Sefer Levent was Mehmet Tevfik Nane, Chairman of the Board of Pegasus Airlines and one of the most experienced figures in aviation and the business world. In the programme broadcast on the Ekonomi Servisi YouTube channel, Nane shared insights from his 37-year business career, spoke about his book titled “Size Anlatacaklarım Var” and offered important assessments of the aviation sector.
Explaining in detail the operating logic of low-cost airline transportation during the programme, Nane also clarified issues frequently criticised by passengers, such as ticket pricing, baggage limits and additional service fees.
“We Do Not Charge Passengers for Services They Do Not Want”
Emphasising that passengers’ priority is safe and affordable transportation, Mehmet Nane explained Pegasus’s adopted “unbundled service” model with the following words:
“We commit to transporting you from one point to another, with a certain baggage allowance and, most importantly, safely. If you want to eat, we charge you for it; not those who don’t. If we included meals in the ticket price, the average price would increase and passengers who do not eat would also have paid that cost.”
Stating that the range of onboard catering options is quite wide, Nane said, “We have everything from sushi to pizza, but only those who pay get it. A tired businessperson may just want to sleep on the plane.”
“An Extra 2 Kilos of Baggage Means a Chain Fuel Cost”
Providing a technical answer to the frequently asked question, “Why is there no tolerance for 1–2 kilos of excess baggage?”, Nane emphasised that weight in aviation directly translates into fuel cost.
“We burn extra fuel for those 2 kilos. Moreover, we also burn additional fuel to carry that fuel. This is a chain reaction. Everything is calculated with millimetric optimisation. Those who want to carry excess weight pay the price, while those travelling light bear only their own cost.”
Why Were In-Flight Magazines Removed?
Drawing attention to how precisely cost calculations are made, Mehmet Nane also shared the mathematics behind the removal of in-flight magazines:
“A magazine weighs an average of 120 grams. Think of an aircraft with 240 seats making 6 flights a day. The fuel spent just to carry those magazines is a serious cost item. We have now switched to digital magazines.”
Nane stated that such detailed calculations form the basis of the low-cost transportation model now adopted by Europe’s largest airline companies.
