By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL

Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines carried more than 64 million passengers from January to October, the company announced on Friday.

The total number of passengers carried by the airline rose 10 percent year-on-year in the 10-month period, the airline said in a statement.

Turkish Airlines said that the number of international passengers -- excluding transit passengers -- climbed 13 percent in the first 10 months of 2018, versus the same period last year.

In the same period, the airline's seat occupancy rate -- passenger load factor -- surged 3 percentage points to 82.2 percent.

"Cargo/mail carried during 10 months increased by 25 percent and exceeded 1 million tons," the statement read.

Turkish Airlines stated that it achieved 83.4 percent of monthly load factor for October.

Last month, the total number of passengers carried by the Turkish Airlines jumped 5 percent, reaching about 6.5 million passengers.

"In October, cargo/mail volume continued the double digit growth trend and increased by 24 percent, compared to the same period of 2017," the statement read.

In October, the international passenger load factor was 83.2 percent, while the domestic passenger load factor stood at 85.1 percent.

Also, the flag carrier announced its 9-month balance sheet -- $755 million net profit and $9.9 billion revenue -- on Wednesday.

Turkish Airlines, founded in 1933, flies to 304 destinations in 122 countries with its 329 aircraft.

Last year, the airline carried 68.6 million passengers with a 79.1 percent seat occupancy rate.

A total of 50.88 percent of the airline's stocks are publicly traded on Turkey's stock exchange Borsa Istanbul while the rest are owned by the Turkiye Wealth Fund.