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In Q1, it served 13.4mn passengers, down 20% y/y, after reporting a 53% y/y decline to 2.8mn in March.
On July 16, Turkey’s leading low cost carrier Pegasus Airlines reported that its passenger figures contracted 87% y/y to 0.4mn in June, including 0.3mn domestic passengers.
In H1, the number of Pegasus passengers declined 54% y/y to 6.7mn after declining 10% y/y to 6.3mn in Q1.
Earlier in the month, the country’s leading airport operator, TAV, reported a 93% y/y decline to 0.7mn in served passengers for June.
Also earlier in July, data from Turkey’s airport authority, DHMI, showed that the country’s airports served short of 37mn passengers in H1, down 62% y/y.
Mega airport, Istanbul Airport, which went fully operational last year, hosted only 12.9mn passengers in the first half.
In June alone, the number of overall passengers at Turkish airports stood at just 2.8mn, including 0.6mn at Istanbul Airport.
TAV Havalimanlari, Turkey’s largest private airport operator, posted a net loss of €150mn in the first half of 2020 versus a net income of €61mn a year earlier as the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis impacted business.
The number of passengers TAV served plunged nearly 70% on an annual basis to just 11mn in January-June.
“Due to the coronavirus outbreak-related restrictions, air traffic dropped to nearly zero in the second quarter of 2020,” the company said. The number of international passengers was down 78% y/y to 4.7mn while the domestic passenger tally dropped 60% y/y to 6.8mn.
TAV reported a sharp 58% y/y decline in its overall revenues to €142mn in the first half while its net debt declined by 4% y/y to €889mn.
In July, all airports in Turkey resumed domestic and international flights. TAV also operates airports in Georgia, Saudi Arabia, Northern Macedonia, and Tunisia as well as Zagreb Airport.
Georgia’s airports are partially open with a full opening expected September and the details of the reopening of Medinah Airport to be announced shortly,
78 TURKEY Country Report August 2020 www.intellinews.com
