Turkish Airlines carries 64M passengers in first eight months of 2026

Turkish Airlines carried 64 million passengers in the first eight months of 2026, up 5.4% from the same period last year, according to a filing with Türkiye's Public Disclosure Platform on Tuesday. The flag carrier said international passenger numbers rose 6.1% year-on-year to 41.8 million, while domestic traffic increased 4.3% to 22.2 million. The airline's passenger load factor climbed to 84.7% from 82.7% a year earlier, with international routes at 84.5% and domestic flights at 86.5%.

August performance

The carrier transported 10 million passengers in August alone, marking a 5.6% increase from the same month last year. International traffic reached 6.4 million travelers, up 5%, while domestic routes carried 3.6 million passengers, an increase of 6.8%. The passenger load factor for the month reached 88%, rising from 86.6% in August 2025, with international flights at 87.6% and domestic services at 91.3%.

Fleet expansion

Turkish Airlines expanded its fleet by 13% to 566 aircraft, up from 501 at the same time last year, as the carrier added new destinations to its network. The number of cities served increased to 358 from 353, according to the KAP filing. The expansion comes as the airline continues to grow its global hub operations from Istanbul.