Turkish Airlines sees 3.7 pct rise in passenger numbers

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish Airlines, the country’s national flag carrier, announced Friday it had increased its total number of passengers by 3.7 percent in the January-October period of 2016 compared to the same timeframe last year.

The total number of passengers between January and October reached 53.8 million compared to 51.9 million in the same period of 2015, according to a statement from the airline.

Turkish Airlines said the number of customers rose by 4.5 percent on domestic flights and three percent on international flights.

Seat occupancy declined four points to 74.6 percent compared to the January-October period of 2015.

Turkish Airlines also added 13 new destinations as of October compared to the same month last year, giving it a total of 292 destinations worldwide – 49 domestic and 243 international.

The number of aircraft operated by the airline increased by 37 to 334, including 11 cargo planes, from 297 in October 2015.

Turkish Airline's shares were among most-traded stocks and valued at 5.22 lira (approx. $1.60) with a fall of 0.57 percent Friday, on Borsa Istanbul.