Dunya – The number of Turkish Airlines (THY) passengers rose 10.3 percent in the first 11 months of 2009 year-on-year, the company announced. In a statement released through the Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB), THY said its number of passengers rose to 23 million in the first 11 months of the year compared to 20.8 million in the same period of 2008. International business class passengers and international transit passengers also increased by five percent and 71.1 percent, respectively, between January and September 2009 year-on-year, according to the statement.