AirAsia’s first codeshare links its Kuala Lumpur network with Pegasus at Sabiha Gökçen, with through baggage and daily AirAsia X service planned by February 2027.
Pegasus Airlines and AirAsia have launched a codeshare partnership linking their networks through Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen and Kuala Lumpur.
- Pegasus Airlines and AirAsia launched their codeshare on 2 September 2026, marking the first codeshare agreement in AirAsia’s history.
- Pegasus customers can book AirAsia X flights between Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen and Kuala Lumpur through Pegasus channels, with check-in and baggage handled through to the final destination on eligible connecting itineraries.
- AirAsia passengers can connect through Istanbul onto Pegasus services initially including London Stansted, Moscow Vnukovo, Ankara, Zurich and Athens.
- AirAsia X plans to increase Kuala Lumpur–Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen service from four weekly flights to daily by February 2027 as the two airlines prepare to extend the partnership to more destinations.
(NEWS) ISTANBUL, Türkiye, 2026-Sep-03 — /Travel PR News/ — A new low-cost bridge between Southeast Asia and Europe is taking shape through Istanbul, where Pegasus Airlines and AirAsia have begun selling connecting itineraries under a new codeshare partnership.
The agreement, which opened for sale on 2 September 2026, is AirAsia’s first-ever codeshare and gives passengers a more integrated way to move between the two carriers’ networks via Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport. For travellers, the main practical change is the ability to use a single booking for eligible connecting journeys, with check-in and baggage handled through to the final destination rather than requiring passengers to collect and re-check luggage during the Istanbul transfer.
Single-ticket connections bring the two networks together
Under the initial arrangement, Pegasus customers can book the Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen–Kuala Lumpur sector operated by AirAsia X through Pegasus sales channels and connect into it from points across Pegasus’ domestic and international network.
In the opposite direction, AirAsia passengers arriving from Kuala Lumpur can connect at Sabiha Gökçen onto Pegasus flights. The airlines have highlighted London Stansted, Moscow Vnukovo, Ankara Esenboğa, Zurich and Athens among the first onward options being promoted under the agreement.
Those cities are intended as the starting point rather than the full extent of the partnership. AirAsia says the combined arrangement is expected to progressively open access to more than 100 routes between Asia and Europe as additional connections are brought into the codeshare.
AirAsia X is preparing to make Istanbul a daily route
The new codeshare builds on a route that is still relatively young. AirAsia X launched direct Kuala Lumpur–Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen flights on 14 November 2025, initially operating four times a week.
That frequency is now scheduled to rise to seven flights a week by February 2027. A daily service should make connections easier to build in both directions, reducing the number of days on which passengers have to shape a longer itinerary around the availability of the Kuala Lumpur–Istanbul sector.
For Pegasus, the arrangement extends its connecting reach into Southeast Asia without operating its own long-haul aircraft to the region. For AirAsia, it opens access to a much broader group of European and regional destinations beyond Istanbul through Pegasus’ short- and medium-haul network.
Istanbul and Kuala Lumpur become the transfer anchors
Güliz Öztürk, CEO of Pegasus Airlines, described Sabiha Gökçen as a natural connecting point between Europe and Asia and said the partnership gives Pegasus passengers access to Kuala Lumpur and onward travel across AirAsia’s Asia-Pacific network.
Bo Lingam, Group CEO of AirAsia Group, said choosing Pegasus for AirAsia’s first codeshare marks a new stage in the airline group’s international development and is intended to make European connections more accessible to travellers across Asia.
The two airlines plan to broaden the partnership across further destinations, using Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen and Kuala Lumpur as the principal connecting points. That expansion will determine how significant the agreement ultimately becomes, but even at launch the passenger proposition is clear: two large low-cost networks are being joined on a single itinerary, with through baggage and coordinated connections replacing what would otherwise often require separate bookings and a self-transfer.
