Istanbul airports host 63.4M passengers in first half of 2026

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced on Friday that Istanbul's two main airports hosted more than 63.4 million passengers during the first half of 2026, a volume exceeding the combined population of 78 of Türkiye's 81 provinces. The figure includes traffic at both Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, according to data from the State Airports Authority General Directorate (DHMI).

National aviation figures

Airports across Türkiye handled 111.96 million passengers in the January-June period, including direct transit travelers, marking a 2.6% increase from the same period last year. Domestic traffic reached 50 million passengers while international routes accounted for 61.9 million, with cargo operations totaling approximately 2.5 million metric tons split between 440,880 domestic tons and 2.06 million international tons. Aircraft movements nationwide reached nearly 1.11 million including overflights.

Istanbul hub performance

Istanbul Airport, the nation's largest aviation hub, processed 39.92 million passengers including 8.24 million domestic and 31.69 million international travelers, recording 262,271 aircraft movements. Sabiha Gokcen International Airport on the Asian side served 23.53 million passengers, comprising 10.85 million domestic and 12.67 million international travelers, with 135,535 aircraft movements. "At Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gokcen Airport, we served 63.45 million in the first half of the year," Uraloglu said. "Our two airports in Istanbul hosted more passengers in the first half than the population of 78 provinces," he added.

Coastal tourism gateways

Airports serving Türkiye's primary tourism destinations welcomed 23.36 million travelers in the first six months, with Antalya Airport leading at 13.65 million passengers and Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport following with nearly 6 million. Dalaman Airport served 1.85 million passengers, Milas-Bodrum Airport handled 1.52 million, and Gazipasa-Alanya Airport hosted 341,213 travelers during the period. In June alone, Turkish airports served 22.92 million passengers including 13.54 million international travelers, while Istanbul Ataturk Airport recorded 12,865 movements handling cargo and private flights.