National flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) saw its net profits in the first three quarters of this year skyrocket to TL 868 million ($480.8 million), a 655 per cent increase over the same period a year ago, Today’s Zaman reports.

The carrier released the results in a note to the Istanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB) on Sunday, Nov 18. The number of THY passengers jumped by 20 per cent to reach 29.1 million while the occupancy rate for its flights was 77.9 per cent in the January-September period, 5.3 points higher over the same months of 2011.

THY sales also increased by 30 per cent to TL 11.2 billion in the same period. The company has made a quantum leap thanks to new investments. Last month, THY's destination countries increased to 87, making the carrier's destination network from one hub the world's largest. THY serves customers with 2,445 pilots and 5,344 cabin crew.

The data arrives amid talks of a possible a co-management agreement between THY and German airline Lufthansa.