ANKARA: The number of passengers carried by Turkish Airlines decreased by 12 percent to 4.1 million in January compared to the same period of 2016, mainly due to a fall in international flights, data from the company showed late on Feb. 13. The decrease in the number of passengers carried in domestic and international lines was 5.1 percent and 17 percent respectively, said the company in statement to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP). The load factor decreased by 1.1 point to 72.7 percent in the same period. International Business Class passengers also decreased 13.6 percent for the same period, while international-to-international transfer passengers decreased 16.2 percent. Available Seat Kilometer (ASK) dropped 8.7 percent to 12.1 billion during the period of January 2017 from 13.2 billion for the same period of 2016, according to the statement. The decrease in ASK in domestic and international lines was 1.4 percent and 9.6 percent respectively.
The number of landings (by passenger aircrafts) decreased 12.6 percent to 31,276 in January compared to the same month of 2016. Cargo and mail carried by the company during the period of January 2017 increased by 7.6 percent to 63,325 tons from 58,871 tons in 2016, according to the statement. By the end of January 2017, the number of destinations served by Turkish Airlines had gone up to 296 from 284 of January 2016. By the end of the last month, the number of Turkish Airlines aircraft had gone up to 333 from 298 of January 2016.
