ISTANBUL, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Turkish Airlines , Turkey's national carrier, plans to boost its sales to $8 billion this year, and raise passenger numbers to 35 million, Dunya newspaper reported.
"We will operate 180-200 planes by the end of 2011. We target 27 percent growth, $8 billion revenue," Turkish Airlines chairman Hamdi Topcu told the newspaper.
The company's nine-month 2010 sales were 6.28 billion liras ($4.06 billion), after full-year sales of 7.04 billion liras in 2009, according to income statements posted on the website of the Istanbul Stock exchange. Turkish Airlines, Europe's fourth-largest airline, was not immediately available for comment.
Turkish Airlines carried 30 million passengers in 2010, undershooting the management guidance of 31 million passengers, Tera Brokers said.
"Our assumption is 33 million passengers and $7 billion revenues for 2011. Overall, Turkish Airlines' 2011 targets are well above our assumptions," it said.
According to Turkish Airlines' most recent data, passenger numbers rose 17 percent to 26.9 million in the first 11 months of 2010.
(Writing by Seda Sezer; Editing by Lincoln Feast) (Created by Lincoln Feast)