Turkish Airlines breaks passenger record

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's national flag carrier carried 6.9 percent more passengers in the first nine months of 2017 compared to last year, setting a new record, the airline announced Monday.

Turkish Airlines carried 51.6 million passengers in January-September 2017, the company said in a statement.

Over the same period, the airlines' total passenger load factor, which is an airline industry metric that measures how much of an airline’s passenger carrying capacity is used, rose by 4.3 points to 79 percent.

The carrier carried 6.7 million passengers in September, up 13 percent compared to the same month last year.

In September, the company's total passenger load factor climbed 5.7 points to 81.5 percent.

The airline said the highest increases last month were seen in its North America and Far East regions, of 10.3 and 6.3 percent, respectively.

Turkish Airlines earned $4.6 billion in total revenues in the first half of 2017, flying to 301 destinations in 120 countries.

Last year, Turkish Airlines carried 62.8 million passengers, up 2.5 percent from 61.2 million passengers in 2015.

As of Monday, Turkish Airlines has a nearly $3.19 billion market value, based on stock exchange market figures.