Turkish Airlines reports 260% profit increase

ISTANBUL, Turkey (eTN) – In the days when airlines are hardly staying in business because of skyrocketing fuel prices, one airline seems to have figured out a way to go the exact opposite and actually turn in a profit.

Turkish Airlines (THY) reported a first-quarter net profit of $104 million, which it said represented a 260 percent increase over last year’s figures.

Revenue rose 33 percent to $910 million and operating profit was up 1 percent to $84 million. The airline has yet to disclose the specifics of its unlikely success, however.

Passenger numbers increased 16 percent year-over-year to 4.5 million, with 76 percent of scheduled revenue coming from international traffic. RPKs climbed 15 percent against a 10 percent increase in ASKs, lifting load factor 3 points to 70 percent.

THY said that despite the “negative effect” of fuel price increases, its first-quarter result has “encouraged us to look positive for the rest of the year.”

Turkish Airlines is Turkey’s flag carrier and it is based in Istanbul. The carrier operates a network of scheduled services to 123 international and 32 domestic cities, serving a total of 155 airports, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the United States.