Turkish Airlines, given the financial discipline and dynamic demand management applied since the beginning of 2017, with US$939 million in 3Q2017, posted record net profit of all third quarters in the company’s history. The nine-monthly operating net profit is recorded as US$956 million.
The successful third quarter marked a 23% increase on total revenues compared to the same period of 2016, reaching US$3.6 billion. The nine-monthly average on total revenues marked US$8.2 billion with an 8% increase.
According to Turkish Airlines’ 3Q2017 financial results, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation and rent (EBITDAR) increased 90% to US$1.5 billion. The 41% EBITDAR margin confirms the airline’s position among the most profitable airlines in the industry.
“The net profit recorded in 3Q2017 clearly demonstrates our capacity to generate cash, said İlker Aycı, Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee. “As the Turkish Airlines family, with our common aim to become one of the leading 5-star airlines of the world, we will continue this growth trend without ever compromising from our service quality. As Turkey’s largest exporter, our march will continue to position Istanbul as a major hub for international air transport.”
According to the 3Q2017 financials, Turkish Airlines, with 81.5%, reached the highest September load factor of the past five years. The number of passengers carried increased by 17% compared to 3Q2016, with the airline serving 21.3 million passengers. Hence, during the nine months of 2017, the airline carried 52 million passengers, with a load factor of 79%. Financial measures applied translated as a 6% decrease in the nine-monthly operational costs.
As regards Turkish Cargo, the company increased destinations from 55 to 72 as of 3Q2017, reaching to 294 thousand tons of cargo with a 29% increase. Turkish Cargo in 3Q2017 also increased revenues by almost 40%, reaching US$343 million. Turkish Cargo was recently awarded as ‘Best Air Cargo Carrier in Asia’.
Along with the new destinations of 2017 such as Samara and Phuket, the number of destinations served by the flag carrier reached 300 in the third quarter of 2017, including 49 domestic and 251 international destinations in 120 countries. The Turkish Airlines fleet, one of the youngest in the world, contains 223 narrow-body, 90 wide-body, and 16 cargo, a total of 329 aircraft.
