Turkish airports hosted nearly 187.4 million passengers, including direct transit ones, from January through September, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said Wednesday.
The total number of passengers in the first nine months of the year increased 5.3% on an annual basis, the minister said, citing data from the State Airports Authority General Directorate (DHMI).
"During this period, domestic passenger traffic at airports across Türkiye reached 76.6 million and international passenger traffic reached 110.7 million, while a total of 187.4 million passengers were recorded, including direct transit passengers," he said.
"Comparing passenger traffic at the end of September 2025 to the same period in 2024, there was a 5.3% surge in total passenger traffic, including direct transit," he added.
Uraloğlu, in a written statement, said that some 746,659 domestic flights and 711,652 international flights were operated at Türkiye’s air hubs, with the total reaching 1.88 million, including overflights, in the first nine months of the year. This, he said, marked a 7.6% rise year-over-year.
In September, some 9.55 million domestic and 12.2 million international passengers traveled through Turkish airports, bringing the total up to 24.77 million, including direct transit passengers.
“Compared to the same month last year, there was a 10.5% increase in total passenger traffic, including direct transit," the minister said.
The number of aircraft taking off and landing at passenger airports was 92,573 on domestic routes and 94,799 on international routes, bringing the total to 239,335, including overflights in September, he also said.
"Compared to the same month in 2024, there was an 11.7% surge in total aircraft traffic, including overflights," he noted.
Uraloğlu stated that cargo traffic at airports was 712,615 tons on domestic routes and 3.1 million tons on international routes, exceeding a total of 3.8 million tons in nine months.
Some 91,460 tons of cargo were transported on domestic flights and 406,058 tons on international flights last month alone.
Istanbul Airport, Türkiye's largest air hub, operated a total of 410,571 flights in January-September while welcoming 62.8 million passengers, according to Uraloğlu.
At the same time, Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport on the Anatolian side served 202,965 flights and a total of 35.6 million passengers in nine months. Atatürk Airport, which is largely decommissioned for civil aviation, operated 21,835 flights over the same period.
According to Uraloğlu, the number of passengers served at airports in tourism centers totaled 50.2 million in the first nine months of the year, with 14.9 million traveling domestically and nearly 35.3 million traveling internationally.
The total air traffic in these tourism centers was 337,139 flights, he said.
"During the nine months, 9.6 million passengers were served at Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport, 31.3 million at Antalya Airport, 4.7 million at Muğla Dalaman Airport, 3.7 million at Muğla Milas-Bodrum Airport and 802,596 passengers at Gazipaşa Alanya Airport," he added.
