Sustainability in full service carriers and low cost carriers: A comparison of Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines

Sustainability is important in aviation industry. The continuous growth and the use of finite natural resources question the sustainability of aviation. Thus, airline companies should implement sustainable business strategies to reduce detrimental environmental and social effects. Strategies in technological improvements may be strong solutions to improve sustainability. These include environmental-friendly aircraft design, use of alternative fuels, low emission engine design, advanced air traffic management procedures. This study explores how two airline carrier types, Turkish Airlines, a Full Service Carrier (FSC), Pegasus Airlines, a Low Cost Carrier, have addressed sustainability in their business models over the period of 2014-2018. The results reveal that both Turkish Airlines and Pegasus have performed well in the strategic integration of sustainability due to the substantial investments in fleet renewal and advancements, that reduce emissions and fuel consumption. While Turkish Airlines follows publicly available policies and publish sustainability reports disclosing the progresses, Pegasus Airlines is not successful in addressing and communicating its sustainability activities to the shareholders and stakeholders. Thus, as a FSC Turkish Airlines' strategies leans more strongly towards sustainability than Pegasus Airlines.