Istanbul Airport among world’s busiest: Report

ISTANBUL

Istanbul Airport was the second busiest in the world last year in terms of international passenger traffic, according to the Airports Council International (ACI).

Turkey’s mega airport served 26.5 million passengers last year, up by a strong 66 percent from 2021, but the number of passengers, who went through Istanbul Airport, was 33 percent less compared to 2020, when the COVID-19-related restrictions hit global air travel and tourism industries.

The airport at the popular holiday destination in Antalya, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, ranked eighth on the ACI’s “The top 10 busiest airports in the world” list.

International passenger traffic at Antalya Airport leaped more than 160 percent last year from 2021 to 17.2 million people.

Turkey’s airports served 128 million people last year, up more than 57 percent compared to 2021, with the international passenger tally increasing by a strong 87 percent to 59.7 million people. Domestic passenger traffic at the airports grew 38 percent to 68.7 million.

In the first quarter of 2022, passenger traffic at Istanbul Airport rose by 106 percent to 11.4 million, while the number of international travelers increased by 107 percent to 8.5 million, the latest data from the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMİ) showed.

In the international traffic category, Dubai Airport topped the ACI’s list with 29.1 million passengers, while in terms of total passengers, Atlanta Airport claimed the top spot with 75.7 million.

The ACI World passenger traffic rankings tell the story of an encouraging trend of recovery, with most of the recurrent busiest airports pre-COVID-19 back at the top, ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira said.

“Although we are cautious that recovery could face multiple headwinds, the momentum created by reopening plans by countries could lead to an uptick in travel in the second half of 2022,” he added.