"The fall is bigger than we had expected," he told the Anatolia news agency, while denying press reports that the number of passengers had fallen by half.

"It is not around 50 percent, I don't have the exact figures," he said.

But Gundogdu said that the airline had increased the number of flights to China, from three to five flights a week.

The airline has had to suspend some domestic and international flights because of the war in Iraq. Several towns in southeastern Turkey are no longer served.

On March 21, Turkey, which shares a border with Iraq, opened its air space to US and British military aircraft involved in the war.

A suspension of THY flights to Bahrain and Kuwait, planned until April 10, has been extended until April 30.

SPACE.WIRE