Aircraft traffic hits 1.6 million, an all-time high

Transport Minister Lütfi Elvan announced yesterday that the number of passengers at domestic airports exceeded 166 million, and aircraft traffic exceeded 1.6 million in 2014, an all-time high. In 2013, the number of passengers was 150 million, while aircraft traffic was 1.2 million. Saying that passenger, aircraft and freight traffic had increased steadily in 2014, Elvan noted in his written statement, "11 million passengers used airports in December 2014."

The number of passengers on domestic flights outnumbered the number of passengers on international flights, exceeding the population of Turkey in 2014 for the first time, said Elvan. "Airway travel frequency was 0.13 per person 12 years ago when the population of Turkey was around 67 million. As a result of increasing demand for domestic flights, air travel frequency became 1.1 per person in 2014. The number of total domestic flight passengers exceeded Turkey's population by 8.6 million, thereby reaching 85.6 million," stated Elvan. Elvan also noted that as of December 2014, total aircraft traffic rose to 56,761 flights, with an increase of 8.2 percent in domestic flights and 36,213 in international flights, an increase of 9.4 percent compared to December 2013.