National flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) carried nearly 2.4 million passengers in April, according to a statement made to Turkey's Public Disclosure Platform 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.
On the other hand, the company saw a 56.2% rise in the volume of cargo it carried last month – reaching 153,798 tons.
THY 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.
In the first four months of this year, the national carrier’s 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 added.
THY has become one of the first major airline companies to register a profit this year as cargo revenues helped weather a steep drop in passenger numbers. The carrier has posted a first-quarter net profit of $61 million (TL 438 million), reversing analyst estimates that expected a loss of around TL 350 million.
The carrier had registered a loss of some TL 2 billion in the same period a year ago.
Founded in 1933, THY served 28 million passengers last year with a seat occupancy rate of 71% amid the coronavirus-related travel restrictions and national border closures.
