By Gokhan Ergocun
ANKARA (AA) - The total number of passengers carried by Turkish flag carrier -- Turkish Airlines (THY) -- rose by 9.3 percent to reach 68.6 million in 2017, compared to the previous year.
According to a statement issued by the Turkish Airlines, it carried 5.5 million passengers in December of 2017, increasing 21.4 percent from December of 2016.
The carrier's load factor -- seat occupancy rate -- rose 5.1 percent points to reach its historical-high with 79.7 percent in December 2017, while it increased 4.7 percentage points to reach 79.1 percent during the January-December period.
The THY's revenue per kilometer jumped 16.3 percent to $11.2 billion year-on-year in December and 7.9 percent to $136.9 billion during January-December period.
International-to-international transfer passengers of the carrier increased in both December and the 12-month-period of 2017, 5.9 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively.
The carrier also carried cargo-mail of over 1.1 million tons in 2017, increasing 25.5 percent from 894,304 tons in 2016.
The THY flies to over 300 destinations worldwide with its fleet of more than 320 passenger and cargo aircraft.
According to the world airline survey Skytrax, Turkish Airlines has been named the best airline in Europe from 2011 to 2016.