Istanbul Airport named Europe's best air hub

By Tuba Ongun

Istanbul Airport, Türkiye's gateway to the world, has won the "Best Airport" award in the category of air hubs welcoming more than 40 million passengers per year by the Airports Council International (ACI) Europe.

IGA Istanbul Airport shared the award with Rome Fiumicino Airport, last year's winner with the same score, according to a statement from the mega air hub on Friday.

Selahattin Bilgen, CEO of the airport, said: "We are always looking for new ways to exceed the expectations of our guests at the airport in the areas of sustainability, accessibility, innovation and technological advancement."

Last year, Istanbul Airport served more than 76 million passengers, marking a hike of 18% from a year earlier.

Praising the strong growth and operational performance of the mega air hub, the ACI Europe stressed that Istanbul Airport put sustainability "at the heart of their strategy" such as plans for a solar power plant to meet all its electricity requirements.

"Judges noted that the winner continued to demonstrate that aggressive investment in cutting-edge airport infrastructure, alongside a supportive government, is a winning formula — creating a strong globally competitive hub that is successful at winning passengers and attracting more airlines," it added.

In 25-40 million passengers category, Oslo Airport was named the best airport in the Europe thanks to its strong operational and punctuality performance.