CORRECTS - Turkish Airlines carried 2.4M passengers in April

CORRECTS LEDE

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines carried nearly 2.4 million passengers in April, according to a statement sent to Turkey's Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) on Tuesday.

Last month's figure was down 60% compared to the pre-pandemic period in April 2019, the airline data showed.

Passenger load factor or seat occupancy declined from the same period in 2019 by 24.6 percentage points to 58.5% this April.

The company saw a 56.2% rise in the volume of cargo it carried last month -- reaching 153,798 tons.

Turkish Airlines also added 12 new destinations from the previous year, giving it a total of 320 destinations worldwide.

Its number of planes increased to 364 by the end of April 2021, up from 335 in April 2019.

- January-April figure

In the first four months of this year, Turkish Airlines' total number of passengers was around 8.7 million, down 61.4% compared to 2019.

"Cargo/Mail carried during the period of January-April 2021 increased by 26.3% to 586,022 tons from 463,989 tons in the same period of 2019," it said.

Founded in 1933, Turkish Airlines served 28 million passengers last year with a seat occupancy rate of 71% amid the coronavirus related travel restrictions and national border closures.