Istanbul’s mega airport ranked busiest in Europe: Eurocontrol

ISTANBUL

Istanbul Airport has been ranked as the busiest airport in Europe between July 13 and July 19, according to data from Eurocontrol.

The country’s mega airport hosted on average 1,333 departure/arrival flights during the week, recording 5 percent more flights compared with the same period of 2019, Eurocontrol said.

Paris Charles de Gaulle was the second busiest with 1,277 flights, however, the flight traffic at the airport declined by 15 percent from two years ago. Amsterdam Airport ranked third at 1,206 flights, followed by Frankfurt at 1,152 flights.

Two European airports, IGA Istanbul and Paris/CDG, are in the Top 10 Global airports, Eurocontrol said.

According to the latest data from Türkiye’s General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMİ), passenger traffic at Istanbul Airport grew 126 percent in the first half of 2022 from the same period of last year to 27.6 million people.

Domestic passenger traffic increased by 109 percent in January-June on an annual basis to 7.2 million, while the international traveler tally leaped 133 percent year-on-year to 20.4 million people.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Asiana Airlines has resumed its flights to Türkiye which were halted due to the coronavirus for two and a half years.

A Boeing 777-200 jet belonging to the airlines with 285 passengers on board from Seoul landed in Istanbul on July 23.

“Before the pandemic, we had six weekly flights. Presently, we are having two flights per week but the frequency of the flights will gradually increase,” said Hyeoktae Kim, general manager of Asiana Airlines Türkiye.

Eurocontrol also said the flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) was the third busiest operator in the July 13-19 period.

Turkish Airlines operated 1,512 flights on average during this period, up 3 percent compared with the same week of 2019.

Turkish Airlines this month also broke a record, carrying more than 260,000 passengers with an occupancy rate of 87 percent on July 15.
Ryanair was the busiest aircraft operator in Europe last week with 2,944 flights per day on average, up 12 percent compared to 2019, followed by easyJet at 1,583 flights. Lufthansa ranked fourth at 1,151 daily flights on average.

Türkiye was the sixth busiest country, with 3,526 average daily flights between July 13 and July 19, according to Eurocontrol.

The U.K. claimed the top spot at 5,708 daily flights on average, followed by Spain at 5,259 flights.

Across Europe, on average, 30,509 daily flights took place over the same period, down 1 percent from the previous week, accounting for 87 percent of 2019 levels, Eurocontrol said.

The main traffic flow is the intra-Europe flow, with 24,303 flights on average for the most recent week, decreasing by 2 percent over the previous week, it added.

“Flows between Europe and Other Europe, including Russia, are at minus 71 percent compared to 2019. Intra-Europe flights are at minus 11 percent compared to 2019, while intercontinental flows are at minus 24 percent,” it said.