Turkish Airlines' passenger numbers rise

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - The total number of passengers carried by Turkish Airlines rose 28.5 percent in the first quarter, compared with the same period last year, the airline said Tuesday.

According to the flag carrier's statement sent to Turkey's Public Disclosure Platform (KAP), the airline carried 16.7 million passengers in the first three months of the year.

The number of passengers carried on domestic and international flights surged 31.3 percent and 26.2 percent, respectively.

Over the same period, the airline's passenger load factor or seat occupancy reached the highest level in its history for the first quarter, up 6.5 percentage points to 80.5 percent.

The flag carrier said it reached the highest international load factor in the last five years and record high domestic load factor in its history.

"International load factor increased by 7 points up to 80 percent, domestic load factor went up by approximately 4 points to 85 percent [between January and March]."

In March, the airline carried 6 million passengers, indicating an annual rise of 24 percent.

"This passenger increase enabled the highest load factor in March in the last five years with 82 percent load factor," it said.

The company said the figures for increase in passengers carried last month in its North America, domestic, Europe and Africa lines were 28.8 percent, 26.9 percent, 24.5 percent and 24.8 percent, respectively.

By the end of March, number of aircraft went down to 327 from 337 in March 2017, it added.