Turkish Airlines posts $939m Q3 profit

• Turkish Airlines posts $939m Q3 profit

Turkish Airlines recorded operating net profit of $939 million in third quarter 2017, the highest third quarter performance in the history of the company.

There was a 23 per cent increase on total revenues compared to the same period of 2016, reaching $3.6 billion. The nine-monthly average on total revenues stood at $8.2 billion, an increase of eight per cent. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 90 per cent to $1.5 billion. The 41 per cent EBITDA margin confirms the Airlines’ position amongst the most profitable airlines of the industry.

Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, Turkish Airlines, Ýlker Aycý said the net profit recorded in the third quarter 2017 clearly demonstrated the capacity of the company to generate cash.

“As the Turkish Airlines family with our common aim to become one of the leading five star airlines of the world, we will continue this growth trend without ever compromising form our service quality. As largest exporter of Turkey, our march will continue to position Istanbul as a major hub for international airport,” Ayci said.

The results also showed that with 81.5 per cent, Turkish Airlines this year reached the highest September occupancy capacity over the past five years. The company’s occupancy capacity increased by 17 per cent compared to third quarter of 2016, with the airline serving 21.3 million passengers. The nine-monthly average reached 79 per cent occupancy reaching 52 million passengers. Financial measures applied translated as six per cent decrease in the nine-monthly operational costs.

Turkish Cargo increased destinations from 55 to 72 by third quarter 2017, loading up to 294 thousand tonnes of cargo, an increase of 29 per cent. Turkish Cargo also increased revenues by almost 40 per cent to $343 million, riding on the wave of industry applause that won it the “Best Air Cargo Carrier in Asia” award.

Along with the new destinations of 2017 such as Samara and Phuket, the number of destinations served by the flag carrier reached 300 in third quarter of 2017, including 49 domestic and 251 international destinations in 120 countries. The fleet of Turkish Airlines, one of the youngest globally, includes 223 narrow body planes, 90 wide body planes and 16 cargo planes, a total of 329 aircrafts.