Friday, May 31, 2013

New budget airline from Qatar to Europe

Pegasus is a private Turkish airline with excellent safety records  which has been operating for more than twenty years .It will start flights from Doha to Europe via Istanbul in mid June .I checked the prices for various European cities and I found the average price was around 2000 Qatari riyal .They do not fly to Budapest but to Vienna from where there are a lots of cheap buses to Budapest .( only two hours ride )
I found  round trip tickets as cheap as 1400 riyal online .
What are the disadvantages ? No direct flights -one must change the plane in Istanbul .It flies to a smaller airport to Istanbul not to the big international one .Luggage included in the ticket price is only 20 kg .You must buy your own meals in flight or in advance .It costs around 10 -15 USD /meal .

Qatar airways is around the  double in price .It has direct flights in more  convenient  times with gourmet meals .

Turkish Airways is a bit more expensive than Pegasus .Its safety records are not the best .The flight between Doha -Istanbul   was very uncomfortable for me with so little leg room  . Istanbul Budapest was much better .Their meals are OK  a bit better than a  canteen style meal . One must change plane in the big international airport in Istanbul . They are flying in less convenient  hours .

All in all -if money does not  matter then QA seems to be the best choice going home .But it does matter and for me Pegasus seems to be a hope of  being able to go home more often . Have a nice Journey !

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