Turkish Airlines ended 2020 with a successful final quarter on an operating level thanks to a substantial increase in cargo revenues, however the Star Alliance airline nevertheless had a net loss of US$836 million for the year.

Turkish Airlines' passenger revenues fell by two-thirds to US$876 million in the three months ending December 2020, but cargo sales grew by nearly four-fifths to US$841 million.

This performance boosted the airline's operating profit to reach US$61 million for the fourth quarter, though it slipped to a net loss of US$50 million for the same period.

For the full-year, Turkish Airlines cargo revenues climbed 61%, to US$2.7 billion, helping to counter a 66% fall in passenger revenues, to US$3.8 billion.

Turkish Airlines revenues were down by just under half for 2020 at US$6.7 billion.

Cargo performance

Despite improving cargo performance, the airline ended the year with an operational loss of US$530 million and a net loss of US$836 million. In 2019, the company made an operational profit of US$585 million and a net profit of US$788 million.

“Cargo operations are continuing at full capacity with freighters and more than 10 widebody passenger aircraft are being utilised for cargo operations,” the airline said.

“Cargo operations made a significant contribution to total revenue and profit compared to those of the previous year, thanks to increasing unit revenues and declining operational costs led by the drop in fuel prices,” it added.