Istanbul Airport ranks second in int'l passenger traffic

By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Turkey's Istanbul Airport ranked second in terms of the number of international flights it handled in 2021, Yeni Shafak newspaper has reported.

According to the International Passenger Traffic data of 2021 announced by the Airports Council International (ACI World), Istanbul Airport became the second busiest airport in the world. A total of 26.5 million international passengers were served at Istanbul Airport in 2021.

Dubai International Airport (UAE) ranked first with 29.1 million passengers, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (The Netherlands) ranked third with 25.5 million passengers, Frankfurt Airport (Germany) ranked fourth, and Paris Charles Gaulle Airport (France) ranked fifth on the list.

In this category, Istanbul Airport was ranked 14th and 6th on the list in 2019 and in 2020 respectively.

In addition, Istanbul Airport became the busiest airport in Europe by hosting 37 million passengers in 2021, according to the International Airports Concert ACI Europe.

On the other hand, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in the USA, which hosted 75.7 million passengers in 2021 with 76.4 percent growth, took first place in the world's busiest airport category.

According to the data released by ACI World, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, which hosted 62.5 million passengers, ranked second in the list, and Denver International Airport, which hosted 58.8 million passengers, ranked third.

Eight of the 10 busiest airports in 2021 were in the United States, and two were in China.

"Although we are cautious that the recovery after Covid-19 may suddenly face a headwind, there may be an increase in travel in the second half of 2022 with the picture that emerged after the countries' plans to reopen after the pandemic," ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira said.

It should be noted that Istanbul Airport ranked first among European airports in terms of passenger traffic (approximately 37 million) in 2021.

Istanbul Airport is the main international airport serving Istanbul, Turkey. It is located on the city's European side in Arnavutkoy district.

Following the closure of Istanbul Ataturk Airport for scheduled passenger flights, all scheduled commercial passenger flights were transferred to Istanbul Airport. The new airport also received the International Air Transport Association (IATA) airport code IST.