Page 60 - TURKRptMar20

Number of passengers declined by 1% y/y to 74.3mn in 2019 from 75.1mn in 2018. Domestic passenger tally dropped nearly 8% to 30.4mn in 2019
In January 2020, it said It targets $15bn revenue and 78-80mn passengers in 2020. It plans to serve up to 33mn domestic passengers after its. The flag carrier’s international passenger target for 2020 is 46-47mn versus the 44mn it flew 2019.
THY forecast consolidated sales revenue of $14.5-14.8bn for 2020.
Its load factor target for 2020 is 81-82%, following the achievement of 81.6% in 2019.
The company expects an increase of 8-9% in fuel consumption and forecast fuel costs at around $700/tonne.
The carrier’s cargo unit is expected to handle 1.6-1.65mn tonnes of deliveries, up 8% from 2019.
A number of factors hit the carrier’s domestic operations in 2019. It has, for instance, been keeping 24 Boeing 737 MAX jets on the ground since April, forcing it to reduce the number of domestic flights. Perhaps a bigger factor was the poor economic situation in Turkey.
Ataturk Airport in Istanbul was totally closed to commercial air traffic after Istanbul Airport, the new mega airport that now serves as Turkish Airlines’ main hub of operations, became properly operational in April. The authorities recently imposed flight number restrictions at Sabiha Gokcen, Istanbul’s second largest airport. The measure is likely to force more travellers to use Istanbul Airport and boost demand for THY this year.
● Pegasus
A Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737 passenger jet landing at Istanbul’s second airport Sabiha Gokcen skidded off the runway and broke into three parts on January 5​, killing three people and injuring 179. The plane, carrying 177 passengers and six crew, was trying to land in heavy tailwinds and rain.
The aircraft, flying from Izmir province, was the third passenger plane to skid off a runway at a Turkish airport in two years. A Pegasus Boeing 737 coming in from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates skidded off the runway at Sabiha Gokcen on January 7, but there were no casualties in that incident. In January 2018, a Pegasus Boeing 737 skidded off the runway at Trabzon airport. It plunged down the side of a cliff overlooking the sea, but again there were no casualties.
In January, Turkish Airlines announced that its subsidiary Anadolu Jet will launch international flights this summer from Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport.
Also in January, Turkey’s Civil Aviation Authority declined applications for new Sabiha Gokcen flight rights under current conditions, claiming capacity constraints stemming from ongoing maintenance works and heavy air traffic.
However, trade press have been reporting the move as a means of giving Turkey’s new mega airport, which has struggled with substantial teething problems, a boost.
Sabiha Gokcen, Istanbul’s second airport, serves as Pegasus’s main hub of operations.
Pegasus said: “After evaluating the impact of this development, we do not foresee any revisions to our financial and operational targets for 2020.”
60​ TURKEY Country Report​ March 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com