Türkiye's national flag carrier seeks to wash away all traces of the coronavirus pandemic fallout and serve a record number of passengers in 2023, a year during which it expects to become the world's sixth most valuable airline brand, according to its chairperson.


A massive rally in its shares this year pushed the market value of Turkish Airlines (THY) to over 10 billion euros ($10.6 billion), which currently makes it the 10th most valuable airline company in the world, said Ahmet Bolat, head of the carrier's board and executive committee.


Backed by a boom in the freight business, the carrier managed to quickly overcome the COVID-19 fallout, boosted its profits and is inching closer to pre-pandemic capacity levels.


"We estimate that we will become the sixth most valuable airline before 2024," Bolat told an interview with Anadolu Agency (AA), also stressing that the carrier is set to fly its billionth passenger in the February-March period.


This success is a testament to its double-digit growth over nearly the last two decades, with exceptions being 2016 and 2020, added Bolat. The company's growth has also been backed by the 2018 launch of Istanbul Airport, as it solved the capacity shortage issue. "Istanbul Airport has a capacity of over 120 takeoffs and landings an hour. The new airport was a must for our growth," he noted.


World-class performance

Bolat added that investors were happy to see the government’s clear interest in making the Turkish aviation sector a world-class player, resulting in them snapping up more Turkish Airlines shares.


"Passengers also preferred to fly with us due to operational problems faced by European airlines, and this added to our profits," Bolat noted.


Shares of Turkish Airlines skyrocketed by nearly 625% this year, a rally that saw the market value of the carrier reach approxim

A Turkish Airlines Airbus A321neo plane lands at the city's new Istanbul Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, April 6, 2019. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

ISTANBUL, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Turkish Airlines (THYAO.IS) carried just over 72 million passengers this year and sees that rising to more than 88 million next year, the chairman of the national carrier said, according to state-run Anadolu news agency.


"We are planning to carry more than 88 million passengers in 2023," Chairman Ahmet Bolat was quoted as telling Anadolu.


Bolat said Turkish Airlines plans to make a $3.8 billion investment next year and expects about a 17-20% increase in capacity, according to the report