Turkish airports host 73M passengers in COVID-19 period

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish airports hosted 73 million passengers since the first COVID-19 case appeared in Turkey, the country's transport and infrastructure minister said on Wednesday.

Turkey had registered its first COVID-19 case on March 11, 2020.

The Istanbul Airport and national flag carrier Turkish Airlines outpaced their European rivals in terms of number of passengers and air traffic rankings, Adil Karaismailoglu said in a statement.

Stressing that the aviation sector was hit hardest by the pandemic, Karaismailoglu applauded his country for taking effective measures against the virus.

"Until April 15, some 72.8 million passengers passed through Turkish airports – of which 46.5 million were on domestic flights and 26.3 million on international flights," he noted.

Airports served a total of 834,535 planes during the same period, the minister added.