ANKARA

National flag carrier Turkish Airlines was once again named the country's most valuable brand for 2021, according to a survey by a leading independent valuation and strategy consultancy released Wednesday.

The airline led the list of Top 100 Turkish Brands 2021 for the fifth time in a row with a brand value of $1.61 billion, down 18.7% from last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brand Finance survey showed.

Appliance giant Arcelik followed with 24.6% year-on-year value growth to $1.59 billion in 2021.

Raising its brand value 25.3% to over $1.19 billion, private lender Isbank climbed five places this year to rank third.

Rounding out the top 10 were private lender Garanti BBVA ($1.19 billion), telecommunications giant Turkcell ($1.06 billion), state lender Ziraat Bank ($952 million), private lenders Akbank ($917 million), and Yapi Kredi ($836 million), GSM company Turk Telekom ($789 billion), and automaker Ford Otosan ($787 million).

Commenting on the survey results, Turkish Airlines CEO Ilker Ayci said: “We are proud to continue our success story of the previous years during the pandemic and being ‘Turkey’s Most Valuable Brand’ once again."

The airline will work to score new achievements for its brand, he vowed.

Having calculated brands’ financial worth for over 20 years, Brand Finance now values 5,000 brands every year.

Established in 1933 with a fleet of five aircraft, Turkish Airlines currently boasts a fleet of 367 (passenger and cargo) aircraft flying to 323 worldwide destinations, including 273 international and 50 domestic.