The number of passengers on Turkish Airlines (THY) increased 6.1 percent in the first two months of 2015 from the previous year, according to a stock exchange filing yesterday. The statement released on the Public Disclosure Platform website shows an increase of 500,000 passengers to 8.3 million passengers from 7.8 million passengers in same period of 2014. Passenger numbers on domestic routes were up 5.6 percent and international arrivals increased by 6.4 percent. The number of flights rose to 62,808, a 2.6 percent increase compared with the January-February period of 2014. Moreover, flight destinations increased to 261 from 243 in the past year, and while THY operated 237 planes by the end of February 2014, it now operates 263 planes. Elsewhere in Europe, the pilot's union of Lufthansa, the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe, has called a one-day strike against the German airline's short-haul and middle-distance operations on Wednesday, the latest in a string of walkouts. The dispute centers on the airline's plans to cut transition payments for pilots wanting to retire early, which the union wants to see maintained.
