Pegasus in groundbreaking change

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Pegasus Airlines, the Turkish value carrier, has taken over control of all its ground handling operations at its home hub of Sabiha Gökçen International Airport. Having previously undertaken all its passenger handling at the Istanbul gateway, since 1 June it has also performed all its own ramp and aircraft parking duties

The end of June saw another terrorist attack on the world’s aviation industry, this time in Istanbul at Europe’s third-busiest airport, Ataturk International. The latest in a series of atrocities in Turkey, the airport was nevertheless quickly back in operation.

Meanwhile, Pegasus Airlines’ decision to begin self-handling from 1 June at another Istanbul airport, Sabiha Gökçen – its home hub – was taken, the carrier says, with a view to “maximising guest satisfaction”.

​Pegasus operates about 200 departures and 200 arrivals a day through the gateway and – having previously handled passenger check-in, baggage handling and boarding services for those services – the move to include tasks such as baggage loading and unloading, aircraft cleaning, transfers between aircraft and terminal, aircraft cleaning (internal and external), cargo handling and de-icing under its own wing represented a further major increase in responsibilities.

​Mehmet Nane, Pegasus CEO, explains: “Our aim has been to introduce the Pegasus travel experience and our innovative operations into such an important part of the customer journey as transporting our guests between airport terminals and our aircraft. We received our official licence from the Civil Aviation Authority on 18 August 2015 and (gradually increased) the provision of our own services (subsequent to) 29 March 2016. Since 1 June, we (have been) operating the full ramp services with our own personnel and equipment.”

​To deal with the increased workload, the airline employed 1,000 more staff. The new employees received Civil Aviation Authority-approved training that incorporated time on the airline’s simulators, in the classroom and what Nane describes as “in the field”. Moreover, he adds: “The training does not end once they start work, as our on-the-job training continues throughout employment at Pegasus.”

​Plus, the carrier invested 20 million euros (US$22.3 million) in new equipment. “We have also purchased the latest and most advanced technological equipment for our operations, (some of) which has not been utilised in Turkey previously,” Nane reports. “We have selected the newest and most advanced technological equipment to run our ground service operations meticulously.”

Of that 20 million euros invested in new equipment, the airline spent a total of 7.2 million euros ($8 million) to purchase, from a variety of suppliers, the following equipment: 24 VivAir buses from Slovenia-based Tam Durabus, 13 pushbacks from Germany’s Schopf and Goldhofer, five de-icing vehicles from JBT of the US, 38 baggage trucks from France-based Charlatte Manutention, 18 ground power units from Austria’s Hitzinger, two air starters and air conditioning units from France’s Guinault, five ambulifts, air stairs, conveyor belts, cleaning generators, and water and cesspit drainage equipment.

Stepping up

Looking back at the big day of 1 June and the period subsequent to then, Murat Demirbilek, vice president – ground operations for Pegasus, informs: “We didn’t experience any major problems during the transitioning period and it was a highly successful handover. We saw immediate improvements, such as a 30% improvement in baggage delivery and a 40% improvement in baggage delays.”

​Taking over from previous handler Celebi Hava Servisi, Pegasus had to square the circle of meeting all the additional demands placed on it while retaining its low-cost business model. “However, our main priority with this project was to meet our guests’ expectations and needs efficiently and safely,” Demirbilek continues. “We have made a significant investment and so expect improvements in the coming periods both in terms of guest satisfaction and cost-effectiveness.”

​The money invested in new GSE was amongst the measures taken that are expected to contribute to that goal. “We expect to see an improvement in our operations processes and our service quality by combining our highly trained staff with this latest in technology, which includes functions such as 360-degree camera sensors and software programmed to match our specific needs,” Demirbilek says.

​“We’ll now be running our ground operations with new eco-friendly equipment suited to our narrowbodied (B737 and A320) aircraft. We’ll also be increasing (levels of) safety at work through our new remote-control equipment.”

The low-cost carrier model also requires rapid aircraft turnarounds on the ground. Thus, he notes: “Even minor malfunctions or delays have a great impact on the smooth running of our operations at our main hub of Sabiha Gökçen, and we are taking decisive action to minimise all operational delays.

​“We’ve created our own ground operations and work flows, (in part) by taking into account lessons learned from past operational delays and taking decisive steps to significantly reduce them. By assuming our own handling we can also run all processes based on the scale of our operations at any given time.”

​The GSE suppliers were selected following a lengthy tender process and after careful thought, Demirbilek recalls. “These companies have been providing GSE for a great number of years and improved and adapted the safety and user-friendliness of their equipment to best match our needs.

​“We considered both leasing and buying, and upon our evaluations decided that buying all our equipment was the right option for us,” he explains. Furthermore: “We aim to continue to purchase new equipment as per the needs of our ongoing operations.”

Home hub

Ever since Pegasus launched its first scheduled flights in 2005, Sabiha Gökçen has acted as its primary hub. Back then, over a decade ago, there were only a few flights a week operating from this very-much secondary Istanbul gateway. But Sabiha Gökçen has grown significantly over this past decade, just as Pegasus has. And, Nane observes: “As we run 57% of our total operations and 70% of our summer operations through Sabiha Gökçen, the quality of the service we offer our guests here has utmost significance for our general operational quality and service excellence. By taking over the ramp services we are taking control of a vital part of our operations.”

​Looking further afield, Demirbilek confirms: “Our primary focus is to run a more efficient, safe and guest-oriented ground operations unit at our primary hub of Sabiha Gökçen. While we have the capacity to expand and change stations, Sabiha Gökçen is our main priority currently.”

​And expansion on the ground is being matched by growth in air operations. “We continue to invest in our ‘fleet of the future’,” Demirbilek says, “having made the single largest-ever aircraft order in Turkish civil aviation history in 2012 of approximately $12 billion for 100 new Airbus aircraft.

​“The deliveries of the first part of our order are arriving this year and will continue in following years, and this will allow us to implement our next stage of growth as we expand our flight network and reach out to an ever-increasing number of guests.”

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