Turkish Airlines is optimistic about its prospects for the upcoming years and is looking to return to and overtake 2019 passenger numbers and load factors for the summer flying season.

“Turkish Airlines was one of the carriers that performed best during the high season last year. We may have a better performance this year compared to 2019,” Chairman Ilker Ayci told Reuters this week. “However, it won’t be until 2023 that we catch up to 2019 full-year figures.”

The airline confirmed carrying 44.8 million passengers in 2021 with an average load factor of 67.9%. Throughout 2021, Turkish Airlines aircraft pushed back 326,000 times. While it is not as strong as the 2019 numbers when 74.3 million people flew with Turkish Airlines, its Chairman says the numbers are changing in the right direction.

This summertime, Turkish Airways will conduct 132 weekly flights into America (a median of nineteen flights an afternoon). Many locations will see double day-by-day flights. Along with its current 11 airports in America, Turkish Airways has started flights to Denver, Seattle, and Detroit also are on the horizon.