Pegasus Airlines has continued to record double digit growth figures during the first quarter of 2015.

The airline carrier 4.52 million guests during the first three months of the year, translating to a year-on-year increase of 10.8 per cent, while the seat capacity was 5.81 million, a rise of 12.1 per cent compared with the same period last year.

With an average overall load factor of 77.8 per cent, the number of guests carried in domestic flights was 2.86 million for the first quarter of 2015, a rise of 9.9 per cent compared with 2.61 million for the same period in 2014, while the number of guests on international flights rose by 12.4 per cent to 1.65 million.

Pegasus’ network expanded to 89 destinations in the first quarter of 2015 compared with 80 for the first quarter of 2014.

As of April 30th, Pegasus now flies to 91 destinations in 37 countries, including 31 destinations within Turkey and 60 other international destinations.

During the first quarter of 2015, Pegasus, Turkey’s fastest-growing airline, achieved a load factor of 81.4 per cent for domestic flights and a load factor of 72.3 per cent for its international routes, reaching an average passenger load factor of 77.8 per cent.

Pegasus increased its market share of domestic flights in the first quarter of 2015 from 27.4 per cent to 28 per cent year-on-year and its share of the international market increased from 11.6 per cent to 12.3 per cent year-on-year – achieving an average market share of 21.9 per cent up from 21.3 per cent.

Commenting on the 2015 first-quarter traffic results, Pegasus Airlines general manager Sertac Haybat said: “We ended 2014 with growth in double-digit figures after a year of continuous growth, and 2015 has been equally as dynamic.

“According to Turkey’s General Directorate of State Airports Authority there has been an increase in guest numbers by 7.7 per cent during the first quarter of 2015 for the country’s aviation sector in general, a period when we have recorded an increase of 10.8 per cent.

“In the first quarter of 2015, as in previous years, we have continued growing faster than the rest of the Turkish aviation sector, achieving 40 per cent faster growth than the rest of the sector this quarter.

“As one of the leading players of the country’s expanding aviation sector, we are very happy to be flying even more of our guests to where they want to go at our great-value fares.”