Turkish airports served over 230 million passengers last year, marking an increase of 7.5% compared to a year earlier, according to a top official on Sunday.
"While we served 95.3 million passengers on domestic lines and 134.7 million on international lines in one year, a total of 230.2 million passengers, including direct transit passengers, used our airports. There was a 7.5% increase in total passenger traffic compared to the previous year," Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said in a written statement.
Evaluating the data from the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI), the minister touched upon figures in domestic and international routes and cargo carried in the past year.
Referring to data from December alone, Uraloğlu said the number of passengers reached 7.08 million on domestic lines and 8.47 million on international lines.
"A total of 15.56 million were served, including direct transit passengers. Our passenger numbers increased by 8.2% compared to the same month in 2023," he added.
“The amount of cargo carried at our airports reached 380,912 tons in December, including 65,111 tons on domestic lines and 315,802 tons on international lines,” he further said.
Furthermore, the minister said that the number of landings and takeoffs stood at 902,078 on domestic flights, while international flights accounted for 866,779 throughout the year. Including overflights, total aircraft traffic reached 2.29 million, a 5.5% increase from 2023.
Cargo and freight operations also witnessed growth on an annual basis. Domestic routes transported 917,816 tons of cargo, while international flights handled 4.02 million tons, totaling 4.94 million tons, said Uraloğlu. This corresponded to a surge of 11.1% compared to the previous year.
The statement also included data on traffic in Türkiye's largest airport – Istanbul Airport – both for December and the whole of 2024.
“A total of 6.2 million passengers were served at our Istanbul Airport, 1.13 million on domestic flights and 5.08 in international flights. The passenger traffic this month increased by 6% compared to the same month in 2023," said Uraloğlu for December data.
Moreover, according to the yearly data, it was revealed that the airport served just below 80 million passengers, meaning it accounted for almost a fourth of the air traffic in the country last year.
“A total of 79.98 million passengers were served, 17.09 million on domestic lines and 62.9 million on international lines. Compared to 2023, there was a 5% increase in total passenger traffic,” the minister said.
Similarly, the data revealed there was substantial growth in the traffic at Sabiha Gökçen Airport, which, particularly in recent months, has seen upticks in the number of passengers served, becoming at times one of the top ten busiest air hubs in Europe.
Accordingly, the airport on Istanbul's Asian side, which is the hub of low-cost Pegasus Airlines, served close to 3.58 million individuals in December alone, up 15% year-over-year.
Yearly, the airport served some 41.48 million passengers, said Uraloğlu, reflecting a 13% rise compared to 2023, respectively.
At the same time, the data pointed to positive momentum in air traffic in major tourist hubs in the country, including cities such as Antalya, Izmir and Bodrum, as they together served more than 60 million passengers.
“In 2024, 11.51 million passengers were served at Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport, 38.25 million passengers at Antalya Airport, and 5.66 million at Muğla Dalaman Airport," said Uraloğlu.
Another 4.38 million passengers were served at Muğla Milas-Bodrum Airport and 1.05 million passengers were served at Gazipaşa Alanya Airport, according to the minister.
