By Tuba Sahin
ANKARA (AA) - The number of passengers through Turkish airports – including transit passengers – reached 81.7 million in 2020, according to the country’s airport authority on Thursday.
The figure fell by 61% from the previous year, as the COVID-19 pandemic led to worldwide travel restrictions, border shutdowns, and an overall drop in consumer demand, the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI) said.
Domestic passenger numbers shrank 50.3% year-on-year to 49.7 million in 2020, while 32 million passengers took international flights, down 71% in the same period.
Turkish airports served more than 1 million planes including overflights last year, down from 2.03 million in 2019.
Data showed that cargo traffic fell 30% on an annual basis to 2.4 million tons in 2020.
Istanbul Airport was the busiest airport in the country, welcoming 23.4 million passengers and serving some 185,642 planes last year.