Turkish aviation sector’s growth ranks third in world

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Turkey ranked third in the world for its year-over-year increase in passenger growth, surpassing all of its counterparts in Europe, the Turkish transportation minister said based on a recently published report.

Turkey’s aviation sector grew by 16.7 percent in 2012, putting the country in third place after Indonesia’s 18.2 percent and Thailand’s 17.7 percent, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) data showed.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency Aug. 9, Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım said Turkey’s growth rate made it the champion of Europe as well, which “made European countries jealous,” according to him.

Turkey’s success in aviation is no surprise for Yıldırım, considering the investments he noted. “We have raised the active airport number to 52 from 25 in a short period of time, 10 years, you know. As for the number of passengers, it climbed to over 131 million from 32.5 million. This year we’ll surpass 140 million passengers,” he said. The growth in numbers is also bringing profits, as the data he provided proves, but Turkey expects even more to come. “We expect sector turnover, which is $21.4 billion today, to reach $35 billion in 2023,” he said.