By Tuba Sahin
Turkish airports in April welcomed a record 18 million passengers, including transit passengers, Türkiye's transport and infrastructure minister said Wednesday.
The figure soared 53.7% at an annualized pace, Abdulkadir Uraloglu said, citing State Airports Authority General Directorate (DHMI) data.
Some 6.3 million passengers took domestic flights in April, a surge of 52.9% from last year. The number of passengers taking international flights jumped 55.1% to 9.7 million in the same period.
Turkish airports served 178,614 planes, including overflights, last month, a year-on-year rise of 28%, the minister said, adding that the cargo traffic last month reached 372,430 tons.
Istanbul Airport saw 6.6 million passengers in April, marking a 48% annual hike, he said.
Sabiha Gokcen Airport, Türkiye's second-busiest airport located on Istanbul’s Anatolian side, welcomed 3.3 million passengers and 19,815 planes, he added.