Turkish Airlines passengers rise 36.6 percent in Jan.

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - The total number of passengers carried by national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) rose by 36.6 percent to reach 5.7 million year-on-year in January.

"The increase in the number of domestic and international passengers are 41.1 percent and 32.8 percent, respectively," the airline said in a statement.

The carrier also reached the highest load factor (seat occupancy rate) ever -- 79.8 percent -- for January. It rose by 7.3 percentage points in January, compared to the same month in 2017.

The airline's revenue per kilometer jumped 28.9 percent to $11.4 billion year-on-year in the month, from 8.8 billion last January.

International-to-international transfer passengers of the carrier increased 24.9 percent year-on-year in January.

The airline also carried more than 86,000 tons of cargo-mail in the month, increasing 33.5 percent from around 64,500 tons in the month of 2017.

In 2017, Turkish Airlines carried 68.6 million passengers.

The airline flies to 300 destinations -- 251 international and 49 domestic -- worldwide with its fleet of more than 330 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.