Turkish Airlines posts $226 mln profit in first quarter

ISTANBUL

Turkish Airlines’ (THY) financials have shown that the flag carrier made a net profit of $266 million in the first quarter of 2024.

Total revenues grew 9.6 percent in the January-March period to reach $4.77 billion, with passenger revenue rising 4.8 percent to $3.82 billion.

Cargo revenues amounted to $750 million in the first quarter, up 27 percent from a year earlier.

The net income margin was 4.7 percent.

Fuel expenses, which accounted for 32 percent of the carrier’s total costs, rose by 4.1 percent to $1.5 billion, while personnel expenses increased by 41.3 percent from the first quarter of last year to $1.03 billion. The company spent $325 million on sales and marketing, up 3.2 percent annually.

Some 38 percent of its revenues were in the U.S. dollar, while the dollar’s share in the company’s expenses was more than 55 percent in the first quarter.

Turkish Airlines ranks first in the world by international destinations. The carrier was flying to 295 destinations in 130 countries as of April.

In the first quarter of 2024, it carried a total of 18.5 million passengers, up 8.4 percent from a year ago. The international passenger tally increased by 6.2 percent to 12 million, while domestic passengers rose from 5.8 million to 6.4 million.

The passenger load factor was 80.4 percent in the first quarter, slightly below 81.3 percent in the same quarter of last year.

Turkish Airlines aims to expand its fleet to 813 aircraft and serve 171 million passengers yearly by 2033, as part of its strategic plan.