Number of Turkish Airlines passengers rose 36.6 percent in January

ISTANBUL

The number of passengers carried by the national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) rose by 36.6 percent to reach 5.7 million year-on-year in January.

“The increase in the number of domestic and international passengers was 41.1 percent and 32.8 percent, respectively,” the airline said in a statement on Feb. 9.

The number of international-to-international transfer passengers also increased by 24.9 percent and reached up to 1.7 million, according to the statement.

The increase in the number of passengers carried on domestic lines, Middle East, Europe, Africa and Far East were 41.1 percent, 39.4 percent, 35.4 percent, 28.2 percent and 24.4 percent, respectively.

The carrier hit the highest load factor (seat occupancy rate) ever - 79.8 percent - for January.

It rose by 7.3 percentage points in January, compared to the same month in 2017. 

Increase in load factor in the flights to North America, Middle East and Africa were 13.3 percent, 10.7 percent and 7.7 percent, according to the statement.

The airline’s revenue per kilometer (RPK) jumped 28.9 percent to 11.4 billion year-on-year in the month, from 8.8 billion last January.

Increase in RPK in Middle East, domestic lines, Europe, Africa and North America were 41.2 percent, 40.3 percent, 34 percent, 26.1 percent and 22.4 percent, respectively.

The airline also carried more than 86,000 tons of cargo-mail in the month, increasing 33.5 percent from around 64,500 tons in the month of 2017.

In 2017, Turkish Airlines carried 68.6 million passengers.

The airline flies to 300 destinations - 251 international and 49 domestic - worldwide with its fleet of more than 330-passenger and cargo aircraft.