Turkish Airlines (THY) was the most profitable airline in Europe in the January-September period, according to Eurocontrol.
The flag carrier boosted its operating profit from 978 million euros in the first nine months of 2021 to 2.33 billion euros in the same period of this year, which was the highest figure among all European carriers.
Ryanair Group swung to an operating profit of 1.2 billion euros from 381 billion euros of loss over the same period, while Air France/KLM Group’s profit amounted to 1.06 billion euros versus an operating loss of 1.8 billion a year ago.
Lufthansa Group also returned to a profit of 934 million euros from a 1.62 billion euros of loss a year ago.
Another Turkish carrier Pegasus posted an operating profit of 413 million euros in January-September this year after reporting a loss of 21 million euros in the first nine months of 2021.
Data from the air traffic control agency also showed that Turkish Airlines was the second busiest carrier in Europe at 1,194 flights per day on average in the week of Nov. 18-24.The average daily flight during this period was 3 percent lower compared to the same week in 2019.
From January to September, Turkish Airlines carried a total of 60.5 million passengers, down from 63 million in the first nine months of 2019. The passenger load factor was 80.3 percent.
The international passenger tally increased by 5.4 percent compared with the same period of 2019 to more than 39 million, while it served 14.5 million domestic passengers.
The carrier increased the number of destinations it flies to from 316 to 335 cities and boosted the seating capacity from 67,953 to 78,780.
Ryanair Group topped the list at 2,172 flights per day on average, while Lufthansa ranked third at 1,106 flights. Air France operated 927 flights, claiming the fourth spot on the list.
Türkiye was the sixth busiest state in Europe at 2,205 daily flights on average in the week of Nov. 18-24, down 3 percent from the previous week. In the U.K, 4,175 daily flights were operated during this period, down 2 percent from a week ago and Germany ranked third at 3,854 flights.
“The network recorded 22,653 daily flights on average over the past week, down 2 percent on the previous week, 86 percent of 2019 levels,” Eurocontrol said.
Istanbul Airport at the top
According to data from Eurocontrol, IGA Istanbul remained the busiest airport within the network at 1,220 flights and was ranked 12th globally in the week of Nov. 18-24.
London’s Heathrow came second at 1,143 departures/arrivals, followed by Charles de Gaulle in Paris with 1,106. Frankfurt was the fourth busiest airport in Europe, with 1,068 flights.