The revival in interest in Turkey saw flag carrier Turkish Airlines increase passenger carryings by 19% in the year to May.
Total passenger numbers reached 29.3 million against the same five-month period in 2017.
The total load factor for January to May improved by about five percentage points up to a record 80.7% for the period.
Passenger numbers rose by 4% to 6.1 million in May with a load factor of 78.6% despite 3.6% more capacity over the same month last year.
The international load factor went up by five percentage points to 80%, while the domestic load factor rose by two percentage points to 85%.