THY sees decline in passenger traffic in May

ISTANBUL

The number of passengers served by Turkish Airlines (THY) declined by 4.5 percent on an annual basis to 5.87 million in May, the national flag carrier announced yesterday in a filing with the stock exchange.

The domestic passenger number was down 9.6 percent year-on-year to 2.4 million while the airline carried a total of 3.5 million international travelers in the month, a 0.7 percent decline from a year ago.

The load factor was 77.5 percent versus 78.7 percent in May last year, the data from THY also showed.

The available seat kilometers (ASK) parameter moved up 1.2 percent on an annual basis to 16.6 billion.

The number of aircraft in the carrier’s fleet increased to 336 in May from 327 in the same month of 2018.

The carrier delivered 131,704 tons of cargo and mail, declining by 11.3 percent on an annual basis.

As of end-May, Turkish Airlines flies to 310 destinations versus 303 destinations a year ago.

The company also said that its seat capacity improved 0.3 percent year-on-year to 65,436.

In the first five months of the year, THY served a total of 28.55 million passengers, down from 29.4 million travelers it hosted a year ago.

Domestic passenger numbers declined by 7.3 percent to 12.3 million while international passenger numbers increased by 1 percent to 16.3 million.

The company saw 62.85 billion Turkish Liras ($12.85 billion) annual revenue and 4.04 billion liras net profit in 2018 when it carried 75.2 million passengers with a seat occupancy rate of 82 percent.

The flag carrier announced in January that it aims to carry 80 million passengers and $14.1 billion in revenues this year.

İlker Aycı, the board chairman of Turkish Airlines, announced in May that the company plans to hire up to 10,000 new personnel this year.

According to the senior executive, Turkish Airlines already hired 4,600 new personnel in the first five