Turkish Airlines annual profit tops $1bn for first time

Turkish Airlines announced on Tuesday that its net profit topped $1bn last year, the first time in the airline’s history.

Turkish Airlines said it posted $1.069 billion net profits for last full year, an increase of 26.5 percent from the figure of $845 million from 2014.

But sales were down 5.0 percent at $10.5 billion compared with 11.07 in 2014. The airline posted a small operating loss for the fourth quarter of $50 million.

The airline said it managed to overcome a tough year marked by the “political and economic instabilities over its operating environment and significant currency fluctuations”.

Turkey has been hit by a number of terrorist attacks in recent months, threatening its tourism industry.

The company has achieved significant growth in the last decade. In 2005, it carried 14.1 million passengers. In 2015, it took 61.2 million passengers to 284 destinations.