Turkish Airlines breaks fresh passenger record

Turkey’s national flag carrier carried 6.9 percent more passengers in the first nine months of 2017 compared to last year, setting a new record, the airline announced on Oct. 9.

Turkish Airlines carried 51.6 million passengers in January-September 2017, the company said in a statement.

Over the same period, the airlines’ total passenger load factor, which is an airline industry metric measuring how much of an airline’s passenger carrying capacity is used, rose by 4.3 points to 79 percent.

The airline carried 6.7 million passengers in September, up 13 percent compared to the same month last year.

In September, the company’s total passenger load factor climbed 5.7 points to 81.5 percent.

The airline said the highest increases last month were seen in the North America and Far East regions, with 10.3 and 6.3 percent rises respectively.

Turkish Airlines earned $4.6 billion in total revenues in the first half of 2017, flying to 301 destinations in 120 countries. Last year it carried 62.8 million passengers, up 2.5 percent from 61.2 million passengers in 2015.