Traffic of Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen airport rises by 17 pct

ISTANBUL

AA Photo

The number of passengers through Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport increased by 17 percent to 12.6 million in the first half of the year compared to the same period the previous year, the company said in a written statement on July 14. 

The airport, which has been chosen as the most rapidly growing airport of Europe for its size for the last five years, served a total of 10.8 million passengers in 2014. 

Located on the Asian side of Istanbul, the airport served 8.3 million domestic flight passengers and 4.3 million international flight passengers in the first six months of 2015. The airport saw around a 12 percent increase in its passenger numbers in June compared to the same month of 2014, according to the statement. 

The Sabiha Gökçen Airport was named the most rapidly growing airport among 10-25 million-passenger person capacity airports in Europe with its 25 percent growth in 2014 by the Airports Council International (ACI) Europe.

The airport was followed by Athens and Brussels airports in this category last year. 

Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport served around 23 million passengers total in 2014.