Pegasus hopeful of rebound as restrictions dent late-2020 performance

Pegasus Airlines saw local restrictions in Turkey dent demand towards the end of 2020, but it remains hopeful of a strong traffic rebound going into the second half of 2021. Reporting a full-year net loss of E211m Friday, the Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen-based operator claims to have “outperformed the industry in capacity recovery” across the 12 months to 31 December 2020, with ASKs at 51% of 2019 levels on a load factor of 80%. A recovery in demand that began in the second quarter was reversed to an extent, however, in December, as ”weekday curfews and full weekend lockdowns” weighed on domestic travel options. Looking ahead, Pegasus notes signs of traffic bouncing back in January 2021 and says its base scenario is achieving 90% of pre-crisis capacity in the third quarter of this year, and 70-75% for the full year, “depending on the evolution of Covid-19 and travel restrictions”. The carrier offers no guidance on its financial outlook, “due to continuing uncertainty”.<br/>