THY Passenger Numbers Surge 16% in March 2026

Turkish Airlines (THY) has reported exceptionally strong performance for March 2026, according to its latest filing with the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP). THY passenger numbers saw a double-digit increase in passenger volume and significant improvements in occupancy rates, underscoring a robust recovery and expansion in the aviation sector.

Total passenger numbers reached 7.2 million in March 2026, marking a 16% increase compared to the 6.2 million passengers carried during the same period in 2025. This growth in Turkish Airlines’ numbers was supported by an aggressive expansion of its fleet and increased seat capacity across its global routes.

THY Passenger Numbers: Occupancy Rates and Operational Capacity

The airline managed to significantly improve its efficiency despite the increase in overall capacity. The total load factor (occupancy) reached 83.6%, an increase of 6.1 percentage points year over year.

Additional operational highlights for March 2026 include:

• Available Seat Kilometers (ASK): Increased by 8.7%, rising from 20.9 billion to 22.8 billion.

• Cargo and Mail: Volume grew by 8.8%, reaching 198.3 thousand tons, up from 182.2 thousand tons in March 2025.

Aggressive Fleet Expansion

A major driver behind these THY traffic results is the rapid growth of the airline’s fleet. By the end of March 2026, the number of aircraft in the Turkish Airlines fleet had grown by 11.9%, reaching a total of 528 aircraft, up from 472 in the previous year.

THY’s passenger numbers and fleet growth align with THY’s strategic goal of becoming one of the world’s largest carriers by the end of the decade, leveraging Istanbul’s geographical advantage as a global hub. The record-high increase in domestic occupancy (+8 points) also suggests a strong resurgence in local travel demand, even amid broader economic disinflationary pressures.

Source: bigpara