Turkish Airlines continued its strong post-pandemic profit run, as double-digit increases in passengers and revenue pushed it to a full-year 2023 operating profit of almost $2.9 billion.
That figure, which excludes the impact of investment activities, was up 3% from 2022. Turkish’s 2023 profit including investment activities hit $4 billion, up from $3.2 billion in 2022.
While the airline doubled its net profit to more than $6 billion for the year, that includes a tax gain of $3 billion related to inflation accounting. Excluding that, the airline’s net profit climbed 7% to $2.9 billion in 2023.
The results come off the back of surging revenue, which jumped 14% year on year to $20.9 billion in 2023. That was led by a 24% year-on-year jump in passenger revenue, which hit $17.7 billion last year.
Turkish’s passenger numbers increased 16% in one year to 83.4 million in 2023, surpassing its previous high of 75 million passengers in 2018. Notably, international travellers comprised a greater proportion of the airline’s total passengers than before the pandemic. Turkish carried 53 million international passengers in 2023, one quarter more than it did in its previous high of 2018.
Cargo revenue, which climbed sharply during the pandemic, fell 30% year on year to $2.6 billion in 2023. That figure remains about $1 billion more than Turkish generated from carrying cargo in 2019, before the pandemic.
