Turkish Airlines' Istanbul business lounge named best in last year’s global listing

National flag carrier Turkish Airlines was awarded for having the best business class lounge at the Skytrax World Airline Awards.

The carrier's lounge also ranked first in the global listing for having the best business class lounge dining.

From 2011 to 2016, the Skytrax world airline survey named THY the best airline in Europe. Last year, it ranked fourth following Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines and Austrian Airlines. The flag carrier was chosen as the Best Airline in Southern Europe for the ninth consecutive time in 2017.

The Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge is a massive, two-story lounge with a long list of services and amenities, including a children's playground, relaxation units, entertainment areas and dining options from Turkish and world cuisine.

THY served 75.2 million passengers last year, while the initial aim was to carry up to 74 million. The total number of passengers the company flew was up 10 percent year-on-year in 2018. The airline now aims to carry 80 million passengers this year, including 33 million on domestic and 47 million on international flights.

It carried some 5.7 million passengers in January this year, the airline said in a previous statement. The number of its international passengers increased by 2.8 percent, while the number of domestic passengers dropped by 3.5 percent.

The carrier completed January with a seat occupancy rate of 79.5 percent, with domestic load factor at 87.1 percent and international load factor at 78.3 percent.

Cargo or mail carried during this period maintained its double-digit growth trend, showing an increase of 14.9 percent compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the growth in cargo/mail volume was driven by a 21 percent increase in Europe, 13.7 percent in the Far East and 11 percent in North America.