Istanbul Airport hosts record number of passengers

Istanbul Airport set a record on June 30th by reaching the highest number of passengers of all time, Türkiye's transportation and infrastructure minister has announced.

"Istanbul Airport breaks a new record every day as a testament to its importance worldwide as the world's most significant centre for air travel, and we are proud of its increasing success," Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said.

Istanbul Airport served 268,275 passengers on Sunday, breaking last year's record for the number of travellers in a single day, Uraloglu said on Monday.

Abdulkadir Uraloglu stated that 205,721 passengers arrived at the airport on international flights and 62,554 others on domestic flights on June 30, the last day of the month.

"This figure has been recorded as the highest number of passengers of all time since the opening of Istanbul Airport," said Uraloglu.

The minister reported that total aircraft traffic on Sunday was 1,592, with 1,214 international flights and 378 domestic flights.

Uraloglu mentioned that the previous record was set on July 2, 2023, with 265,961 passengers.

82 million passengers hosted

The country's transport and infrastructure minister said that Turkish airports have hosted 82 million passengers in the past five months this year.

The total number of passengers was up 12.7 percent compared to the same period last year, Abdulkadir Uraloglu said in a statement, citing State Airports Authority General Directorate (DHMI) data.

Some 37.1 million passengers took domestic flights, up 11.1 percent year-on-year, and 44.9 million passengers took international flights, 12.7 percent above the last year's figure, during the five months.

The cargo traffic reached 1.7 million tons in the same period, the minister said. Istanbul Airport hosted 31 million passengers in the five months, up 8 percent on an annual basis, and 207,800 planes, 5 percent more than last year's figure.

Sabiha Gokcen Airport, Türkiye's second-busiest airport in Istanbul's Anatolian side, welcomed 16.2 million passengers in the same period, 20 percent above the last year's figure, and 96,700 planes, up 10 percent year-on-year.

In May, Turkish airports welcomed 20.2 million passengers, a surge of 7.5% on an annual basis, and served 200,600 planes, up 8.4 percent, including overpasses, with cargo traffic reaching 404,700 tons.

Istanbul Airport saw 6.7 million passengers with 44,700 planes, up 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively. Sabiha Gokcen Airport hosted 3.4 million passengers with 20,200 planes in May.​​​​​​​