Turkish Airlines Carries 9 Million Passengers in September as Far East Capacity Jumps 18.7% and the Middle East Shrinks 17.1%
Turkish Airlines carried 9.0 million passengers in September 2026, 3.6 percent more than a year earlier, and filled 86.8 percent of its seat-kilometres, according to the traffic report the carrier posted on its investor-relations site and that the trade press relayed on 8 and 9 October. The headline numbers are healthy but unremarkable. The regional breakdown inside the same release is more revealing: capacity to the Far East rose by almost a fifth, while capacity to the Middle East fell by more than a sixth.
The figures are consolidated and cover both the Turkish Airlines brand and its domestic and regional subsidiary AJet, the report and the trade coverage state.
The September headline numbers
The carrier's own table compares September 2026 with September 2025 across all flights.
| Measure | Sept 2025 | Sept 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passengers carried | 8.7 million | 9.0 million | +3.6% |
| Available seat-kilometres | 24.0 billion | 24.6 billion | +2.5% |
| Passenger load factor | 84.6% | 86.8% | +2.2 points |
| Passenger landings | 52,183 | 53,074 | +1.7% |
| Cargo and mail | 182.1 thousand tonnes | 205.7 thousand tonnes | +13.0% |
| Fleet | 506 | 567 | +12.1% |
| Destinations | 355 | 358 | +0.8% |
Passenger numbers grew faster than capacity, which is how the load factor rose by 2.2 percentage points. Capacity measured in available seat-kilometres grew 2.5 percent, while passengers grew 3.6 percent. The number of passenger flights grew by a smaller 1.7 percent.
The fleet figure stands out against those operating numbers. The airline reported 567 aircraft at the end of September, 61 more than the 506 it listed a year earlier, a 12.1 percent increase. Seat-kilometres, by contrast, rose only 2.5 percent. The release does not explain the gap between fleet growth and capacity growth, and the report does not say how many of the 567 aircraft are in active passenger service.
International and domestic
The split between international and domestic flying shows where the growth came from.
International passengers rose 4.8 percent to 5.9 million, on capacity up 2.8 percent to 22.3 billion seat-kilometres. The international load factor reached 86.6 percent, up 2.3 points from 84.3 percent. International passenger landings rose 2.8 percent to 33,085.
Domestic passengers rose 1.5 percent to 3.1 million. Domestic capacity was flat at 2.3 billion seat-kilometres (down 0.1 percent), and the domestic load factor edged up 0.9 points to 88.2 percent. Domestic landings were essentially unchanged at about 20,000, with the release recording 0.0 percent change.
Cargo moved in the same direction as international traffic. Total cargo and mail rose 13.0 percent to 205.7 thousand tonnes, of which 200.3 thousand tonnes, up 13.4 percent, was carried on international services. Domestic cargo was 5.4 thousand tonnes, down 0.1 percent.
The regional breakdown
The second page of the report breaks September down by region. It is the most detailed part of the release, and it shows capacity moving between markets.
| Region | ASK change | Load factor | Passengers (millions) | Passenger change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Far East | +18.7% (5.7 to 6.8 billion) | 87.6% (+0.2 pt) | 0.8 to 0.9 | +17.8% |
| Europe | +4.0% (6.6 to 6.9 billion) | 85.7% (+1.5 pt) | 3.1 to 3.3 | +5.9% |
| Americas | -6.8% (5.6 to 5.2 billion) | 90.3% (+5.5 pt) | 0.5 to 0.5 | +0.2% |
| Africa | -3.3% (2.1 to 2.0 billion) | 84.0% (+1.9 pt) | 0.5 to 0.5 | +1.4% |
| Domestic | -0.1% (2.3 billion) | 88.2% (+0.9 pt) | 3.1 to 3.1 | +1.5% |
| Middle East | -17.1% (1.6 to 1.4 billion) | 76.5% (+2.0 pt) | 0.8 to 0.7 | -8.3% |
Several patterns are visible in the carrier's table.
Far East. Seat-kilometres to the Far East rose 18.7 percent, from 5.7 billion to 6.8 billion, and passengers rose 17.8 percent to about 0.9 million. The load factor held at 87.6 percent, so the extra capacity was filled at roughly the same rate as before. By September, the Far East was the single largest capacity block in the table after Europe, with 6.8 billion seat-kilometres against Europe's 6.9 billion.
Europe. Europe remains the largest market by passengers, at 3.3 million for the month, up 5.9 percent, on 4.0 percent more capacity.
Americas. Capacity to the Americas fell 6.8 percent, yet passenger numbers were flat, up 0.2 percent at about 0.5 million. That left the load factor at 90.3 percent, up 5.5 points and the highest of any region in the report.
Africa. African capacity slipped 3.3 percent to 2.0 billion seat-kilometres, while passengers rose 1.4 percent and the load factor improved to 84.0 percent.
Middle East. The Middle East is the weak spot. Capacity fell 17.1 percent to 1.4 billion seat-kilometres, passengers fell 8.3 percent to about 0.7 million, and the load factor of 76.5 percent, although 2.0 points higher than a year earlier, remains the lowest of any region. The release is a table of figures and gives no reason for the reduction, and none is offered here.
The regional table shows rounded passenger counts to one decimal place, so small changes within a region, such as the Americas and Africa, cannot be read to a finer precision than the percentages the carrier supplies.
Nine months: January to September
The year-to-date picture reinforces the September pattern. For January to September, Turkish Airlines carried 73.0 million passengers, up 5.2 percent from 69.4 million. Capacity rose 4.4 percent to 212.2 billion seat-kilometres, from 203.3 billion, and the load factor was 85.0 percent, up 2.0 points from 82.9 percent. Passenger landings grew 3.1 percent to 440,531.
International passengers over the nine months were 47.7 million, up 5.9 percent, on capacity up 4.6 percent to 192.7 billion seat-kilometres and a load factor of 84.8 percent. Domestic passengers were 25.3 million, up 3.9 percent, with a load factor of 86.7 percent.
Cargo and mail rose 10.6 percent to 1,756.8 thousand tonnes (the trade press rounds this to 1.76 million tonnes). International cargo grew 11.0 percent to 1,711.2 thousand tonnes, while domestic cargo fell 1.8 percent to 45.6 thousand tonnes.
The nine-month regional figures show the same shift, only larger.
| Region | ASK change (Jan-Sep) | Passengers (Jan-Sep) | Passenger change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Far East | +18.4% (50.6 to 59.9 billion) | 8.0 million | +18.9% |
| Europe | +6.3% (52.4 to 55.7 billion) | 25.7 million | +8.5% |
| Americas | -1.5% (47.6 to 46.9 billion) | 4.3 million | +1.7% |
| Africa | +3.6% (18.0 to 18.6 billion) | 4.1 million | +9.3% |
| Middle East | -26.3% (15.7 to 11.6 billion) | 5.6 million | -15.7% |
Over nine months, Middle East capacity is down more than a quarter and passengers are down 15.7 percent, from 6.7 million to 5.6 million. The Middle East load factor over the period was 77.2 percent, up 2.8 points. Africa, which fell in September, is still up on the year, with passengers 9.3 percent higher at 4.1 million and a load factor of 81.5 percent.
On the figures in the report, the Far East's 8.0 million nine-month passengers are 1.2 million above the 6.8 million of a year earlier, per the carrier's table.
How September compares with August
The carrier's August report, covered by Daily Sabah, gives a reference point. In August, Turkish Airlines carried 10 million passengers, up 5.6 percent, with a load factor of 88 percent, up from 86.6 percent a year earlier. International passengers were 6.4 million, up 5 percent, and domestic passengers 3.6 million, up 6.8 percent, with a domestic load factor of 91.3 percent.
September's growth rate of 3.6 percent is therefore slower than August's 5.6 percent, and the load factor of 86.8 percent is lower than August's 88 percent. The movement between the two months is a comparison of the two published sets of figures; the reports do not discuss seasonality or give reasons.
At the end of August, the carrier flew to 358 destinations with a fleet of 566 aircraft, according to Daily Sabah's report. At the end of September, the investor-relations table lists the same 358 destinations and 567 aircraft.
Fleet and network
The release gives only a count of destinations and aircraft, not a list of routes or deliveries. Destinations stood at 358, up from 355 a year earlier in the carrier's table (Daily Sabah's August report put the year-earlier figure at 353 on a different date). The fleet stood at 567, up 12.1 percent from 506.
On those figures the fleet is growing much faster than capacity, with 12.1 percent more aircraft and 4.4 percent more seat-kilometres over the first nine months. The traffic report does not break the fleet down by type or by brand, and does not say whether AJet's aircraft are counted in full.
What the release does not say
The traffic report is a statistical release, not a results statement. It contains no revenue, yield, cost or profit figures, and no commentary from management. The company has said it will announce third-quarter financial results on 4 November 2026, according to its investor-relations site, and that report is the point at which revenue and earnings for the period will be available.
Sources
- Turkish Airlines Investor Relations, "September 2026 Traffic" report (PDF) and traffic-results page, investor.turkishairlines.com
- Hurriyet Daily News, "Turkish Airlines carries 73 million passengers in January-September", 9 October 2026
- TradeArabia, "Turkish Airlines carries 9m passengers in September", 8 October 2026
- Daily Sabah, "Turkish Airlines' passenger count reaches 64M in 8 months"