Turkish Airlines increases passenger numbers despite tough year

ANKARA

DHA photo

Turkish Airlines increased its total number of passengers by 3 percent in the January-November 2016 period compared to the same period last year, it announced on Dec. 8.

During the period, the number of passengers carried reached 58.3 million, from 56.6 million passengers in the same period of 2015, the company stated in a written statement to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP).

The increases in passengers carried in domestic and international lines were 4.3 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively.

International-to-international transfer passengers also increased by 14.9 percent in the first 11 months of the year compared to the same period of 2015.

The rise comes despite a tough year for Turkey’s tourism sector, which has been roiled by domestic and international political troubles.

Despite the rise in passenger numbers, Turkish Airlines’ load factor decreased by 3.6 point to 74.5 percent in the mentioned period.

Meanwhile, by the end of November, the number of destinations served by Turkish Airlines went up to 292 from 280 in November 2015, while the number of aircraft went up to 335 from 299, according to the statement.

The number of domestic destinations increased from 48 to 49 and the number of international destinations increased from 232 to 243.