Air passenger traffic grows 12 percent in six months

ISTANBUL

Turkish airports served a total of 104.7 million passengers in the first half of 2024, marking an 11.8 percent increase from a year ago, data from the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMİ) have shown.

The international passenger tally rose 13 percent year-on-year to 58.6 million, while domestic passengers increased 10.2 percent annually to 46.2 million.

Istanbul Airport welcomed a total of 38.1 million travelers, an annual increase of 7 percent. Some 29.8 million international passengers used the mega airport in January-June, up 10 percent from a year ago, but the number of domestic passengers fell 2 percent to 8.15 million.

The Airports Council International (ACI) last week named Istanbul Airport the "Best Airport” in the category of air airports with more than 40 million passengers. It shared the award with Rome Fiumicino Airport.

Istanbul Airport was praised by judges for a strong growth story and operational performance from one of Europe’s newest airports, ACI said in a statement.

Sabiha Gökçen, the second largest airport in Istanbul, saw an 18 percent increase in total passenger traffic to 19.8 million, according to DHMİ data. International passenger traffic grew nearly 16 percent year-on-year to 29.9 million, while the annual increase in domestic passengers was 21 percent to 9.46 million.

The airport in the popular holiday destination of Antalya, on the Mediterranean Coast, served 14.57 million passengers in the first six months of 2024, up 14 percent, with international passengers rising 14 percent to 11.37 million.

In June alone, 22.7 million travelers went through Turkish airports, rising 7.9 percent compared with the same month of last year.

Airports served 9 million domestic passengers and 13.65 million international passengers last month.