Sustainability in Full Service Carriers Versus Low Cost Carriers: A Comparison of Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines

Abstract

Continuous growth and use of natural resources bring sustainability into question in the aviation industry. Airlines are expected to implement sustainable business strategies to reduce detrimental environmental and social effects in their operations. Strategies in technological improvements may be strong solutions to enhance 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 airlines, Turkish Airlines, as a Full Service Carrier (FSC), and Pegasus Airlines, as a Low Cost Carrier, have addressed sustainability in their business models over the period of 4 years (between 2014–2018). The results reveal that both companies have performed well in the strategic integration of sustainability by substantially investmenting in new fleet and technological advancements, that aimed at reducing emissions and fuel consumption. While Turkish Airlines has publicly available policies and regularly publishes sustainability reports transparently disclosing its progresses, Pegasus Airlines does not follow similar approach in addressing and communicating its sustainability activities to the shareholders and stakeholders. Thus, Turkish Airlines’ strategies leans more strongly towards sustainability than Pegasus Airlines.KeywordsSustainability performanceEnvironmental performanceGovernance performanceAir transportationSustainability reportingFull service/low cost carriersTurkish Airlines