Turkish Airlines on its way to become world’s 6th-most valuable air carrier

Türkiye’s National flag carrier expects to become the world’s sixth-most valuable airline brand before the start of 2023, the chairman of the airline’s board and executive committee told Anadolu Agency.

With a market value of over €10 billion ($10.6 billion), Turkish Airlines is the 10th-most-valuable airline brand in the world, said Ahmet Bolat on Monday.

This success is a testament to its double-digit growth over nearly the last two decades, except for 2016 and 2020, he said.

Bolat said the 2018 launch of Istanbul Airport also supported the company’s growth and strength as it solved its capacity shortage problem.

“Istanbul Airport has the capacity for over 120 takeoffs and landings an hour. The new airport was a must for our growth,” he noted.

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World-class player

He added that investors were happy to see the government’s clear interest in making the Turkish air transport sector a world-class player, resulting in them snapping up more Turkish Airlines shares. 

“Passengers also preferred to fly with us due to the operational problems faced by European airlines, and this added to our profitability,” Bolat said.

By the end of this year, the airline aims to have carried more than 72 million passengers, and over 88 million next year, he highlighted.

According to the latest data on Türkiye’s Public Disclosure Platform, the airlines welcomed 66.3 million passengers in January-November, down only 3.7 percent from the same period in pre-pandemic 2019.

The company announced net revenues of $2.25 billion in the first three quarters of this year, a fivefold increase compared with the same period of 2019.

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Tourist magnet

With the start of the summer season in June, rising international air traffic to and from European countries caused a crisis at many airports, where the staff had been reduced due to Covid-19 and employees were on strike.

Bolat stressed that Turkish Airlines saw a rise in the number of both point-to-point and transfer passengers, especially on long-distance routes.

“The growth in our passenger figures also stemmed from the rise in tourist arrivals in Türkiye,” he underlined.

The number of foreign tourists who visited Türkiye surged 84.8 percent year-on-year to 42.2 million in January-November, according to Culture and Tourism Ministry data released last week.

When Turkish citizens living abroad are added to the count, the 11-month figure goes up to 47.6 million, the ministry data showed.

“We set a 17 percent-20 percent capacity rise for the next year,” Bolat said.

Turkish Airlines boasts a fleet of more than 390 aircraft, he said, adding that it is aiming for 427 by the end of 2023.

Source: AA