Istanbul Airport listed busiest in Europe

ISTANBUL

Istanbul Airport was the busiest airport in Europe in May by traffic volume as it served a total of 5.7 million passengers, according to data from the Airports Council International (ACI).

London Heathrow, which welcomed 5.34 million travelers, ranked second, followed by Paris’s Charles de Gaulle at 5.22 million passengers.

From January to May, the country’s mega airport served a total of 21.55 million passengers, up 130 percent from the same period in 2021. The international passenger tally leaped 132 percent on an annual basis to 16 million, while domestic passengers increased by 123 percent to 5.5 million people.

Sabiha Gökçen Airport in Istanbul also saw an annual increase of 66 percent in total passenger traffic in the first five months of 2021. More than 11 million passengers went through the airport, which is on the Asian side of the city, with international travelers rising 169 percent year-on-year to 5.42 million. The airport also served 5.6 million domestic passengers, up 21 percent from a year ago.

Passenger traffic at Türkiye’s airports grew by 94.2 percent in January-May to 57 million people, according to the latest data from the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMİ). International passenger traffic increased by 161 percent to 28.4 million, while the rise in domestic passengers was 55 percent to 28.6 million.

Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines held 1,510 daily flights on average between June 27 and July 3, claiming the third spot in the list of top 20 airlines in Europe, according to EUROCONTROL.

“We rank first among the national flag carriers in Europe,” tweeted Bilal Ekşi, CEO of Turkish Airlines.

Ryanair ranked first on the list with 2,982 flights per day on average, followed by Easyjet with 1,571 flights per day.

The average daily number of flights was 30,611 in Europe over the same period, corresponding to 86.3 percent of flights conducted in the same period of 2021, according to EUROCONTROL.