Turkish Airlines returns to profit despite lagging passenger revenues

Turkish Airlines generated a full-year net profit of $959m for 2021, sharply reversing the net loss of $836m for the previous year and exceeding pre-crisis performance. International passenger revenues were $5.5b, down 44% on pre-crisis levels, while domestic revenues, which make a much smaller contribution, were down 37%. But Turkish Airlines lists a doubling of revenues classified as ‘other’, totalling $4.4b. The company generated overall revenues of $10.7b – the lowest figure since 2016 outside of the crisis-hit 2020 – but managed to keep operating expenses to $9.4b. The company’s pre-tax profit for the year was more than $1b. It says its capacity levels for Q4 reached 84% of that supplied in the same period of the pre-crisis 2019. “Thanks to the advantage it has on the cost side, wide flight network, effective capacity management, rapid recovery in diversified passenger segments and successful cargo operations, the group showed a faster recovery than its competitors in both financial and operational results,” it adds. Cargo operations are continuing at full capacity with its freighter fleet and about 15 long-haul passenger aircraft utilised for freight operaitons.<br/>