National flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) carried a total of 2.38 million passengers during the Qurban Bayram (Eid al-Adha) holiday, the company said in a statement Monday.
The 15,269 flights flew to 125 countries around the world during the 10-day holiday, reaching an occupancy rate of 85.83%, the statement said. Turkish Airlines carried out 5,140 outbound flights and 5,167 inbound flights from Istanbul Airport, whose first phase officially opened in October 2018 and which took over air traffic from the former main Atatürk Airport on April 6.
The carrier has served some 1.7 million passengers at its new home. The occupancy rate on flights from the airport on average has reached 90%, while it hit 92% on some days. Having flown over 2 million passengers on 14,399 flights during the nine-day Ramadan Bayram, also known as Eid al-Fitr, in June, the national flag carrier managed to raise this figure by 350,000 to a total of 2.38 million passengers during Qurban Bayram. Prior to the holiday, company officials said they expected to carry some 2 million passengers.
Founded in 1933 with a five-aircraft fleet, the carrier currently has over 340 aircraft, including passenger and cargo planes, and flies to 313 destinations worldwide. Last year, the company carried 75.2 million passengers with a seat occupancy rate of 82%, and this year aims to reach 80 million passengers on domestic and international routes.
