Yemisi Izuora
Turkish Airlines, says its growth momentum which was significant in 2017, continues in 2018. The national flag carrier has put its signature under the thriving results recorded in April, after announcing its successful first quarter with 83.2 per cent LF in April.
According to the April 2018 Traffic Results; Upon the double-digit passenger increases in the first quarter of 2018, total number of passengers carried went up by 15 per cent reaching 6.4 million passengers, in April. This passenger increase enabled the highest April load factor in Turkish Airlines history with 83.2 per cent load factor.
Also, the Total Load Factor improved by 4.1 points, with an increase of 6.1 per cent in capacity (Available Seat Kilometer), while international LF increased by 4.2 points to 82.6 per cent and domestic Load Factor to 87.1 per cent in April.
Furthermore, Double digit growth in demand (revenue per kilometer) that commenced in July 2017, kept on with 12 per cent demand growth in April 2018. Excluding international-to-international transfer passengers (transit passengers), number of international passengers went up by 30 per cent.This has been an important indicator of the continued growing interest in Turkey.
In April, cargo/mail volume increased by 18 per cent, compared to April 2017. Main contributors to the growth in cargo/mail volume are N. America with 27 per cent increase, Middle East, Africa and domestic lines with 26 per cent increase, and Europe with 19 per cent increase.
Meanwhile, according to the January-April 2018 Traffic Results; between January-April, there was an increase in demand and total number of passengers was 21% and 24 per cent, respectively. Total number of passengers reached 23 million. Total Load Factor also improved by 5.8 points up to 81.2 per cent, While International Load Factor increased by 6 points up to 81 per cent,Domestic Load Factor went up by approximately 4 points to 86 per cent.Cargo/mail carried increased by 32 per cent and reached 425 thousand tons, thanks to strong pick up in cargo/mail volume in April of 2018.