Turkish airports host 57.2M passengers in January-April

Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey saw a total of nearly 57.2 million air passengers in the first four months of 2019, the country’s air travel authority announced on Tuesday.

The number of passengers passing through Turkish airports was down 5.3% from the same period last year, according to the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI).

Nearly 43% of total passengers -- over 24.4 million -- travelled on international flights, while domestic traffic was recorded at 32.6 million during the same period.

Turkish airports served 579,466 planes including overflights in the first four months of this year, falling 1.6% year-on-year.

The new mega-Istanbul Airport, whose first phase officially opened last fall and which took over air traffic from the former main Ataturk Airport on April 6., welcomed 4.7 million passengers and served 29,492 planes in January-April.

With a full capacity of 200 million passengers annually after the completion of all four phases with six runways by 2028, Istanbul Airport is set to become a global aviation hub hosting more than 100 airlines and flights to over 300 destinations around the world.

Ataturk Airport had previously been the busiest airport in the country, serving 115,435 planes and 16 million passengers in the same period.

The last passenger flight from Ataturk Airport was conducted on April 6.

Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen Airport on the city's Anatolian side was the second busiest airport in Turkey, hosting 11 million passengers and 73,474 planes.