Turkish Airlines largest carrier in int’l seat capacity

ISTANBUL

Turkish Airlines was the largest network carrier in the world in August in terms of the available seats on international routes, the company has said.

Turkish Airlines increased its seat capacity by 14 percent and carried 7.8 million passengers in the months of July and August.

“Competition in the global aviation industry is intensifying again as the effects of the pandemic wane. Our target was to surpass our performance in 2019, and we have succeeded,” said Ahmet Bolat, chairman of Turkish Airlines’ board and executive committee.

He noted that the available seat kilometer (ASK) in the global aviation sector was 19 percent lower in August compared with the same month of 2019, but that Turkish Airlines’ ASK was 14 percent higher in the comparable period.

“We became the largest network carrier in the world in terms of the number of seats available on international routes as of August,” Bolat said.

The company’s overall ASK was 20.4 billion last month, increasing by 14.2 percent from 17.8 billion in August 2019.

On the international routes, the ASK was 18.5 billion in August, which marked a 16.6 percent rise from two years ago.

Last month, Turkish Airlines carried a total of 7.8 million passengers, up 5.6 percent compared with August 2019, with international passenger traffic rising 12.4 percent.

The carrier also served 2.7 million domestic travelers, down 5.5 percent.

In the first eight months of 2022, the ASK grew 6.1 percent from the same period of 2019 to 131.6 billion. Turkish Airlines saw a 2.6 percent increase in international passengers to 29.65 million.

Turkish Airlines increased the number of destinations it flies to from 315 in August 2019 to 335 as of last month, with its fleet expanding from 343 airplanes to 387.