Istanbul Airport sees largest rise in passenger traffic among 'mega' European air hubs

By Tuba Ongun

Thanks to a 22.4% surge in passenger traffic this April compared to the pre-pandemic period, Istanbul Airport topped the list of European air hubs welcoming more than 40 million passengers per year (the majors category), Türkiye's transport minister announced on Thursday.

Citing data from the Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, Abdulkadir Uraloglu said Sabiha Gokcen Airport – Istanbul Airport’s sister facility, located on the city’s Anatolian side – was number two in the Mega Airports category of hubs welcoming 25-40 million passengers, with a 13.2% rise in the same period.

In the mega airports category, Antalya Airport in the Turkish Mediterranean resort city ranked fifth with an 8.6% rise this April compared to the same month in 2019, he added.

The ACI Europe data showed that passenger traffic across the European airport network grew 8.5% at an annualized pace in April to reach 99.8% of its pre-pandemic level, data showed.

London Heathrow was the busiest European airport, with traffic up 4.8% annually in April.

Istanbul Airport was the second-busiest European air hub, welcoming 6.6 million passengers in April, up 10.5% year-on-year, Uraloglu said, followed by Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol, and Madrid.

He underlined that with a 42.7% year-on-year rise in freight traffic, Istanbul Airport showed the best performance in April. According to ACI Europe, freight traffic across the European airport network expanded 12.4% in April over the same period last year.