Turkish airports serve 82 million passengers in 5 months

ISTANBUL

Total passenger traffic at Turkish airports increased by 13 percent in the January-May period from a year ago reach more than 82 million, data from the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMİ) have shown.

The international passenger tally rose by 14.4 percent to 44.9 million, while domestic passengers were up 11 percent annually to 37.1 million.

Istanbul Airport saw an 8 percent year-on-year increase in total passenger traffic to more than 31 million with international passengers rising 10 percent to 24.5 million.

Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, the second largest in Istanbul, served a total of 16.2 million passengers in the first five months of 2024, up 20 percent from a year ago. International traveler traffic at the airport rose by 18 percent annually to 8.6 million.

International passenger traffic at the airport in the popular holiday destination Antalya increased by 17 percent to 7.1 million, while the year-on-year rise in domestic passengers was 18 percent to 2.6 million.

Passenger traffic at the airports in the tourism regions amounted to more than 16 million people in the first five months of the year, including 9.6 million international travelers, said Transport Minister Abdülkadir Uraloğlu.

In May alone, Türkiye’s airports welcomed more than 20 million passengers, marking a 7.5 percent increase from a year ago, according to Uraloğlu.

Commercial airplane traffic at the country’s airports rose by 9.1 percent annually to 520,740, with international traffic increasing 11.5 percent year-on-year to 286,000, showed DHMİ data.