The number of passengers that Türkiye's flag carrier, Turkish Airlines, carried this March surged 16% on a yearly basis to hit 7.2 million, the company said on Thursday.

Sharing traffic results at the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP), the carrier said that the number was up from 6.2 million in the same month last year.

Meanwhile, the passenger load factor also rose 6.1 percentage points to 83.6% in March 2026. The international load factor increased 5.9 percentage points to 83.7%, while the domestic load factor rose 8 percentage points to 82.3%.

Total available seat kilometers (ASK) increased 8.7% to 22.8 billion, up from 20.9 billion in March 2025.

Cargo and mail volumes rose 8.8% to 198,300 tons from 182,200 tons a year earlier.

As of the end of March 2026, the airline’s fleet expanded 11.9% year-on-year to 528 aircraft, compared with 472 a year earlier.

The number of destinations was also up by 1.4% to 358, compared to 353 in March 2025.

Moreover, between January and March, the company said it flew some 21.3 million individuals, versus 18.9 million in the first three months of 2025, reflecting a 12.7% year-over-year surge.