The total number of Turkish Airlines (THY) passengers in the first seven months of the year surpassed 34.4 million, an increase of 10.7 percent compared to the same time period last year, according to stock market data released yesterday.While the number of passengers in the first half of the previous year was 31 million, the number of passengers increased by 3.4 million, Borsa Istanbul stock exchange showed. Having been selected the "Best Airline in Europe" again in 2015 for the fifth time in a row, the total number of THY domestic flights saw a 14.1 percent increase, while the number of international flights saw a 8.2 percent increase.Compared to the first half of 2014, when the number of international flight and comfort-class passengers increased 5.2 percent and the number of international transit passengers increased 15.4 percent, the number of passengers in both categories increased 20 and 25 percent, respectively, in the first half of 2015. As for the passenger occupancy rate, it stood at 78.2 percent – a 0.6 percent decline.While the total available seat kilometers were 76.3 billion in the January-July 2014 period, it increased 11.2 percent in the same period of 2015 to reach 84.8 billion. Moreover, total available seats increased 10 percent for domestic flights and 11.4 percent for international flights.Revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), while amounting to 60.1 billion in the January-July 2014 period, increased 10.3 percent in the same period of 2015 to reach 66.3 billion. The RPK increased 13 percent for domestic flights and 9.9 percent for international flights.The number of landing aircraft increased by 7.8 percent to reach 255,251, while it was 236,736 in the first half of 2014.At the end of July 2014, the total number of THY destinations was 259; in July 2015, it totaled 276. The number of domestic destinations increased from 43 to 48, and the number of international destinations increased from 216 to 228.On Sunday, the company also announced a net profit of TL 1.35 billion ($476 million), despite rising fuel costs and the fall in the value of the lira.