Turkish Airlines Posts Biggest Loss as Direct Traffic Slumps
By: | May 10 2016 at 02:37 AM | Air Cargo
Turkey’s national airline reported the biggest loss since at least 1999 in the first quarter as geopolitical risks and security concerns pressured direct traffic into the country.
Turkish Airlines posted a loss of 1.24 billion liras ($422 million) in the three months through March, compared with a net income of 373 million liras in the same period a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Borsa Istanbul. That missed the average of 10 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg for a loss of 1.04 billion liras.
The loss will be a blow to the carrier after it posted a record profit in 2015 amid a slump in oil prices that helped slash operating costs. War in neighboring Iraq and Syria, renewed violence with Kurdish militants at home, and terror attacks in Istanbul and Ankara are choking Turkey’s tourism industry. Foreign tourist arrivals dropped for eight straight months through March, the longest declining streak since at least 2006, according to government data.
Shares of Turkish Airlines have dropped 9.1 percent this year, compared with a 10 percent gain in the Borsa Istanbul 100 Index.