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Türkiye's airports handled around 167.5 million passengers in the first eight months of 2026, with Istanbul's two main aviation hubs accounting for nearly 90 million travelers, according to data released by the State Airports Authority General Directorate (DHMI).
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said passenger traffic, including direct transit travelers, rose 2.8% compared with the same period last year.
Across the country, aircraft movements reached around 1.6 million between January and August when overflights were included, while air cargo traffic came in at nearly 4 million metric tons.
IGA Istanbul Airport, Türkiye's largest international aviation hub, served 56.6 million passengers during the eight months, including 11.9 million domestic and 44.7 million international travelers.
The airport alone handled nearly 8.6 million passengers in August, with international travelers making up around 6.7 million of the total.
On Istanbul's Asian side, Sabiha Gokcen Airport carried 33.1 million passengers between January and August. Of these, 15.2 million traveled on domestic routes and 17.9 million flew internationally.
The airport recorded 188,833 aircraft movements during the period, split between 84,077 domestic and 104,756 international flights.
Airports serving Türkiye's main tourism destinations welcomed a combined 41.6 million passengers in the first eight months of the year, while the number of flights at these airports reached 277,435.
Across Türkiye, airports served approximately 28.8 million passengers in August alone.
Meanwhile, Istanbul Ataturk Airport, which no longer appears in the figures as a major passenger hub, recorded 17,903 aircraft movements during the January-August period and 2,594 in August.
Highlighting the scale of traffic at Türkiye's busiest gateways, Uraloglu said, “Türkiye's airports with the highest passenger capacities, specifically the IGA Istanbul Airport and Antalya Airport, served 81.7 million passengers in just eight months, exceeding twice the number of passengers served across the country in 2002.”
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