10M-plus passengers flew Turkish Airlines in Jan-Feb

ANKARA

Turkey's national flag carrier served 10.85 million passengers in first two months of 2019, the company announced Monday.

In the two-month period, the total number of passengers carried by Turkish Airlines rose 0.4 percent year-on-year.

"The number of passengers carried on domestic lines decreased 4.2 percent and the number on international lines increased 4.5 percent," the airline said.

Over the same period, the airline's seat occupancy rate -- passenger load factor -- was 79.6 percent.

"The number of landings (passenger aircraft) of 73,473 for the period of January-February 2018 increased 0.4 percent to 73,765 in 2019.

"Cargo/mail carried during the period of January-February 2019 increased 15.2 percent to 226,855 tons from 196,922 tons in 2018," the company said.

Turkish Airlines, founded in 1933, flies to more than 300 destinations in over 120 countries with its fleet of 338 aircraft, including passenger and cargo planes.

Last year, the company carried 75.2 million passengers with a seat occupancy rate of 82 percent, and this year aims to reach 80 million passengers on domestic and international routes.

The airline’s net profit reached 4.04 billion Turkish liras ($753 million) last year, up from 639 million liras ($223 million) in 2017.