National flag carrier Turkish Airlines’ (THY) 2020 net loss was announced as TL 5.58 billion ($761 million), according to a company financial results report late Monday.
The national carrier announced a net profit of TL 4.53 billion in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic halted worldwide transportation and the countries imposed travel restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.
The report noted that due to the impact of COVID-19 in 2020, global air traffic has significantly declined and stringent measures have been taken to slow the expansion of the pandemic.
“Several constraints were imposed and restrictions continue to have a major impact on the global aviation industry,” it said.
THY’s total debt, meanwhile, which was TL 106.1 billion at the end of 2019, increased to TL 147.9 billion as of last year’s end.
The total equity of the company decreased from TL 40.8 billion to TL 39.5 billion.
The national flag carrier’s revenue, which was TL 75.1 billion in 2019, decreased to TL 46.4 billion in 2020 while financing expenses arising from exchange difference and interest payments rose from TL 1.74 billion to TL 5.9 billion.
Despite the worsened conditions of the pandemic, which most recently began to be weathered, the airline topped the European air traffic once again in February.
In a statement made by THY to the Public Disclosure Agency (KAP) earlier, it also shared that the carrier hosted a total of 2 million passengers in January with an occupancy rate of 60.3%.