KARACHI: The national flag carrier of Turkey, Turkish Airlines carried historic 5.7 million passengers in January 2018, which is up by 37%, for the first time in the history of Turkish Airlines for the month of January. Turkish Airlines reached the highest Load Factor in January with 79.8% in its history. Making the whole world more accessible for its passengers by flying to 300 international destinations than any other airline in the world, Turkish Airlines consistently continues to increase its total passenger number. According to the recently announced ‘January 2018 Traffic Results’ Turkish Airlines’ total Load Factor improved by 7.3 points to 79.8% with an increase of 17% in Available Seat Kilometer, while international LF increased by 7.5 points to 78.6%. Domestic and International flights have reached the highest January LF of Turkish Airlines history. Double digit growth in demand (revenue per kilometer) that commenced in July 2017, kept on with 29% demand growth in January 2018. Excluding international-to-international transfer passengers (transit passengers), number of international passengers went up by 45%. In January, cargo/mail volume increased by 34%, compared to January 2017. Main contributors to the growth in cargo/mail volume, are Middle East with 45% increase, Domestic Lines with 44% increase and and Europe with 39% increase. In January, Load Factor increased for all regions. North America, Middle East, Central America, South America and Africa showed visible growth among other regions with 13 points, 1 points, 9 points and 8 points increase, respectively. Published in Daily Times, February 22nd 2018.