Turkish airports handled some 14 million domestic and international passengers in January, the country's airport authority announced Friday.
The General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMİ) said the number of passengers going through Turkish airports last month fell 4.7 percent year-on-year.
DHMİ figures revealed that around 38.8 percent of all passengers
-nearly 5.5 million traveled on international flights.
Atatürk Airport, located on the European side of Istanbul, handled some 5.1 million passengers and was the most active among the country's 56 airports.
With around 2.7 million passengers, Sabiha Gökçen Airport, located on the Istanbul's Anatolian side, was the second busiest airport in Turkey.
In January, the other busiest airports were the ones in the capital Ankara (1.2 million), the Aegean province of İzmir (0.97 million) and the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya with some 890,000 passengers.
Official figures also showed that Istanbul Airport, whose first phase officially opened on Oct. 29, has welcomed nearly 190,000 passengers over the past three months.
Once completed, the Istanbul Airport will be the world's biggest international airport, covering 76.5 million square meters. The airport has the potential to handle 90 million passengers annually and following the second phase of construction, expected to be completed in 2023, this number will reach around 200 million. The airport will operate flights to over 300 destinations worldwide.
