Turkish low cost carrier Pegasus Airlines has become the first airline to take delivery of an Airbus A320neo powered by CFM International’s Leap-1A engines. 

Pegasus placed the largest single order by a Turkish carrier for up to 100 A320neo Family aircraft in 2012, making it a new Airbus customer. Pegasus Airlines, along with Airbus and CFM top management and employees, celebrated the delivery in a private ceremony at Airbus’ site in Hamburg on 21^st July. The date of delivery had been in question following the turmoil resulting from the attempted coup d’état in Turkey  on 15^th July.

The fast-growing carrier, which currently has a 30% share of the Turkish domestic market, reported a 10.5% increase in passenger traffic for the first six months of the year, to 11.2 million. Pegasus currently operates a fleet of 62 aircraft, mostly Boeing 737-800s.

Airbus selected the LEAP-1A as one of the two powerplant options for the A320neo in 2010, and the engine flew for the first time on the A320neo on 19^th May 2015. The LEAP-powered A320neo received its Type Certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on 31^st May 2016.