Turkish airports see 57M+ passengers in first 7 months

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The number of air passengers in Turkey in the first seven months of 2021 -- including transit passengers -- totaled nearly 57.4 million, the country's airport authority announced on Monday.

This January-July, the country's airports served over 33.7 million domestic and almost 23.6 million international passengers, said figures from the State Airports Authority General Directorate (DHMI).

Airports in the country served 708,827 planes, including overflights. Air cargo traffic registered at around 1.7 million tons, according to the official figures.

Istanbul Airport and Istanbul Ataturk Airport -- both in the country's largest city by population -- saw a total of 155,162 aircraft this January-July.

Istanbul Airport, which has become a major international hub, served over 16.4 million passengers during the period.

In July alone, the number of air passengers in Turkey totaled over 17.1 million, with more than 8.7 million domestic and some 8.4 million international passengers.

While the world aviation sector continues to fight off the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey was among the countries that successfully managed the process.

With effective steps taken by the government since the beginning of the pandemic, especially airports' pandemic certification process, passenger mobility on domestic and international routes rose this January-July.