Turkish aviation shrugs off COVID-19 and a currency crisis

Turkey's currency seems to have been in decline for ever. The Turkish lira (TRY) has lost 89% of its value against the US dollar (USD) over the past 10 years and halved over the past year. However, Turkish aviation continues to fly in the face of its fall in fortune.

Both Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines have significant revenue and costs in hard currencies. Moreover, the weaker TRY makes Turkey a more competitive tourist destination and inbound bookings to the country have doubled since Jan-2022.

Turkey's weekly seat capacity is now at 97% of 2019 seat capacity levels, which is well above the Europe average of 88% in the week of 30-May-2022. Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines are both above 100% of 2019 capacity.

Although currency decline and inflation have dampened the domestic recovery in recent weeks, Turkey's large internal market has increased Turkish aviation's resilience in the COVID-19 crisis.