THY sees 10.3 pct in passengers in passengers in first 11 months

Turkish Airlines (THY) passenger numbers rose 10.3 percent in the first 11 months of 2009 year-on-year, the company announced on Wednesday. In a statement released through the Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB), THY said its number of passengers rose to 23 million in the first 11 months of the year compared to 20.8 million in the same period of 2008. International business class passengers and international transit passengers also increased by 5 percent and 71.1 percent, respectively, between January and September 2009 year-on-year, the statement said. During the same period, passenger occupancy rates, on the other hand, were down 4 points to 71.1 percent. Landing numbers also rose 11.5 percent, increasing to 194,500 in the first 11 months of 2009 over 174,400 year-on-year. Metric tons of cargo – mail air freight loaded onto THY planes – grew by 15.6 percent, climbing from 183,600 tons in January-November 2008 to 212,300 tons in the same period of 2009.