Turkish Airlines’ passenger numbers increase by over 11 percent

ISTANBUL

REUTERS photo

The number of passengers traveling on Turkey’s national carrier rose by 11.2 percent to 9.2 million in the first two months of the year compared to the same period of 2015, Turkish Airlines said in a written statement to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) on March 15. 

The number of passengers in domestic flights rose by 12.6 percent and the number of passengers in international flights rose by 10.2 percent, according to the statement. International-to-international transfer passengers also increased by 20.9 percent in the January-February period compared to the same period last year. 

The load factor, however, fell by 3 points to 73.3 percent in the same period.  

By the end of February 2016, the number of destinations served by Turkish Airlines had risen to 284, up from 261 in February 2015. The number of domestic destinations increased from 43 to 49 while the number of international destinations increased from 218 to 235 over the same period. 

By the end of February 2016, the number of Turkish Airlines aircraft had gone up to 302, from 263 in February 2015. The number of wide-body aircraft had increased from 55 to 74, the number of narrow-body aircraft from 199 to 218, and the number of cargo aircraft from nine to 10 over the mentioned period, added the statement. 

In an earlier statement released on Jan. 12, Turkish Airlines said it expected its overall passenger numbers to reach 72.4 million in 2016 and sales revenues to reach $12.2 billion in 2016.