By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA

Turkey's national flag carrier carried 75.2 million passengers last year, the company announced Thursday.

On a yearly basis, the total number of passengers carried by Turkish Airlines surged 10 percent in 2018.

Last year, the airline's seat occupancy rate -- passenger load factor -- reached 82 percent, improving 3 percentage points year-on-year.

"Excluding international-to-international transfer passengers [transit passengers], the number of international passengers went up significantly by 12 percent," the airline said.

"When compared to 2017, cargo/mail carried during the year 2018 increased by 25 percent and reaching to 1.4 million tons," it added.

Turkish Airlines, founded in 1933, flies to 306 destinations in 124 countries with its fleet of 332 aircraft including passenger and cargo planes.