161 Istanbul Airport Statistics for 2026

How many passengers use Istanbul Airport each year?

Istanbul Airport has grown every year since the pandemic and set a new record in 2025. It opened in late 2018, took over the city's main passenger flights from Atatürk in April 2019, and was back above its 2019 level by 2022.

View data table

Passengers at Istanbul Airport each year, in millions, on DHMI's count. Each year comes from DHMI's figures for that year, with 2025 from its January 2026 release; the link is to the latest one.

Period	Value
2019	52.0m
2020	23.4m
2021	37.2m
2022	64.5m
2023	76.0m
2024	80.4m
2025	84.5m

• DHMI counted 80,430,740 passengers at Istanbul Airport in 2024, up 5.81% on 2023. (DHMI (airport statistics 2024), Mar 2025)
• It counted 76,011,907 passengers in 2023, up 17.8% on 2022. (DHMI (airport statistics 2023), Apr 2024)
• Passengers rose 73.5% to 64,518,073 in 2022 as travel recovered from the pandemic. (DHMI (airport statistics 2022), Jun 2023)
• The airport handled 37,181,907 passengers in 2021, up 58.8% on 2020. (DHMI (airport statistics 2021), Jun 2022)
• In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, it handled 23,410,380 passengers, 55.0% fewer than in 2019. (DHMI (airport statistics 2020), Apr 2021)
• Istanbul Airport handled 52,009,220 passengers in 2019, its first full calendar year. (DHMI (airport statistics 2019), May 2020)
• It handled 95,205 passengers in 2018, after opening late in the year. (DHMI (airport statistics 2018), Apr 2019)
• iGA, the company that runs the airport, gives its own rounded figure of 84.4 million passengers for 2025. (iGA (2025 sustainability report), Sep 2026)

DHMI counts passengers arriving and departing at each airport. Its year-end statistics tables give 2018 to 2024 and its January 2026 release gives 2025; a later DHMI table gives a slightly different 2025 total, which is not used. ACI World, ACI EUROPE and iGA publish their own 2025 totals, which differ slightly from DHMI's, so each is named. In 2019 Atatürk still handled passengers until April, so the new airport's 2019 figure is not a full year of the city's hub traffic.

How many Istanbul Airport passengers are domestic and how many international?

Most Istanbul Airport passengers fly internationally: about four in five in 2025, calculated from DHMI figures. International traffic keeps growing, while domestic traffic has been close to flat since 2023.

• International 66.73m
• Domestic 17.73m

• DHMI's release split 2025 into 17,730,321 domestic and 66,727,100 international passengers. (DHMI (2025 traffic release), Jan 2026)
• In 2024 domestic passengers fell 1.96% to 17,393,810 and international passengers rose 8.18% to 63,036,930. (DHMI (airport statistics 2024), Mar 2025)
• There were 17,740,865 domestic and 58,271,042 international passengers in 2023. (DHMI (airport statistics 2023), Apr 2024)
• In 2022 the airport had 15,948,502 domestic and 48,569,571 international passengers. (DHMI (airport statistics 2022), Jun 2023)
• In 2021 it had 10,676,237 domestic and 26,505,670 international passengers. (DHMI (airport statistics 2021), Jun 2022)
• In 2020 it had 7,473,875 domestic and 15,936,505 international passengers. (DHMI (airport statistics 2020), Apr 2021)
• In 2019 it had 12,574,641 domestic and 39,434,579 international passengers. (DHMI (airport statistics 2019), May 2020)
• From January to September 2026 domestic passengers fell 0.63% to 13,565,722 and international passengers rose 2.79% to 50,937,147, on DHMI's provisional figures. (DHMI (airport statistics Jan-Sep 2026), Oct 2026)

Domestic means flights within Türkiye. The 2025 split comes from DHMI's January 2026 release and the other years from DHMI's year-end statistics tables. 2026 figures are provisional.

How busy is Istanbul Airport in 2026?

Istanbul Airport is busier in 2026 than in 2025, but growth slowed after a strong start to the year. July and August were the busiest months, and the airport broke its daily passenger record twice in August.

View data table

Istanbul Airport passengers so far in 2026, running total at the end of each month, in millions, from DHMI's provisional month-end tables. Each month comes from the table for that month; the link is to the latest one.

Period	Value
Jan	6.9m
Feb	12.8m
Mar	19.1m
Apr	25.7m
May	32.8m
Jun	39.9m
Jul	48.1m
Aug	56.6m
Sep	64.5m

• DHMI's provisional January to September 2026 total was 2.05% above the 63,205,568 passengers of a year earlier. (DHMI (airport statistics Jan-Sep 2026), Oct 2026)
• Istanbul Airport handled 6,910,808 passengers in January 2026, up 7% on January 2025, and 45,090 aircraft movements. (DHMI (Jan 2026 traffic), Feb 2026)
• March 2026 brought 6,333,485 passengers, taking the first quarter to 19,105,266 passengers and 127,461 aircraft movements. (DHMI (Mar 2026 traffic), Apr 2026)
• May 2026 had 7,123,268 passengers; January to May totalled 32,802,275 passengers and 216,603 movements. (DHMI (May 2026 traffic), Jun 2026)
• June 2026 had 7,119,838 passengers, and the first half of the year 39,922,113. (DHMI (Jun 2026 traffic), Jul 2026)
• July 2026 had 8,146,411 passengers, 6,329,982 of them international, and 50,748 aircraft movements. (DHMI (Jul 2026 traffic), Aug 2026)
• August 2026 was busier still, with 8,580,441 passengers and 52,468 aircraft movements; January to August totalled 56,648,965 passengers. (DHMI (Aug 2026 traffic), Sep 2026)
• On 1 August 2026 the airport handled 289,260 passengers, which DHMI then called the highest daily total ever in Türkiye and Europe; the record fell again on 16 August. (DHMI (1 August 2026 record), Aug 2026)
• iGA's own counter shows 72,298,831 passengers and 463,407 flights from 1 January to 1 November 2026. (iGA (airport in numbers), Nov 2026)
• In May 2026 the Minister of Transport forecast that Istanbul Airport would pass 90 million passengers in 2026 and that Türkiye's airports would carry about 270 million. (DHMI (Ministry forecast, May 2026), May 2026)

All 2026 figures are DHMI's provisional counts and may be revised. Monthly figures come from DHMI's monthly releases, and iGA's counter is the operator's own running total. The 90 million is a forecast by the Minister of Transport, made in May 2026. October 2026 figures from DHMI were not out when this page was reviewed.

Is Istanbul Airport the busiest airport in Europe?

On ACI's 2025 figures Istanbul was Europe's second busiest airport, a very short way behind London Heathrow. In 2026 the order has changed in some months, and ACI EUROPE named Istanbul Europe's busiest airport over the summer.

1. 1 London Heathrow 84.48m
2. 2 Istanbul 84.44m
3. 3 Paris-CDG 72.02m
4. 4 Amsterdam 68.77m
5. 5 Madrid 68.12m

• ACI EUROPE's 2025 table had Heathrow on 84.48 million passengers and Istanbul on 84.44 million, up 5.5%, ahead of Paris-CDG on 72.02 million. (ACI EUROPE (2025 traffic report), Feb 2026)
• Europe's airports handled a record 2.6 billion passengers in 2025, up 4.4%, on ACI EUROPE's count, which covers Türkiye and the UK as well as the EU. (ACI EUROPE (2025 traffic report), Feb 2026)
• ACI World's confirmed 2025 table put Heathrow seventh in the world with 84,482,126 passengers and Guangzhou ninth with 83,582,952, either side of Istanbul. (ACI World (2025 rankings), Jul 2026)
• At the fourth runway opening the President of Türkiye said the airport handled 84.5 million passengers in 2025, second in Europe and eighth in the world. (DHMI (fourth runway opening), Sep 2026)
• ACI EUROPE also ranked Istanbul second in 2024, with 80.1 million passengers, up 5.3%, behind Heathrow on 83.9 million, and put the slower growth down to engine maintenance problems at its hub airline. (ACI EUROPE (2024 traffic report), Feb 2025)
• In the first half of 2026 ACI EUROPE counted 39.84 million passengers at Istanbul, up 1.6%, against a record 40 million at Heathrow. (ACI EUROPE (first half 2026), Jul 2026)
• ACI EUROPE named Istanbul Europe's busiest airport over summer 2026, with 8.6 million passengers in August, up 3%, ahead of Heathrow with 7.9 million. (ACI EUROPE (summer 2026 traffic), Sep 2026)

The ranking here is ACI's: ACI World and ACI EUROPE count total passengers at each airport. DHMI's own count for Istanbul, given at the top of this page, is a different count and is not ranked against ACI's Heathrow figure, so this page names no winner of its own. ACI EUROPE's half-year and monthly figures are preliminary and differ slightly from DHMI's monthly counts.

How many flights does Istanbul Airport handle?

Istanbul Airport handles more flights than any other airport in Europe on EUROCONTROL's count, and its yearly total has grown every year since 2020. On its busiest days in 2026 it handled well over 1,700 flights.

View data table

Aircraft movements at Istanbul Airport each year, in thousands, on DHMI's count of all aircraft traffic. Each year comes from DHMI's table for that year; the link is to the latest one.

Period	Value
2019	329.9k
2020	185.4k
2021	279.5k
2022	425.9k
2023	505.9k
2024	517.3k
2025	549.3k

• DHMI counted 549,296 aircraft movements, landings and take-offs, at Istanbul Airport in 2025, up 6.2%: 124,228 domestic and 425,068 international. (DHMI (airport statistics 2025), Feb 2026)
• Of those, 535,224 were commercial aircraft movements. (DHMI (airport statistics 2025), Feb 2026)
• There were 517,263 aircraft movements in 2024, 504,122 of them commercial. (DHMI (airport statistics 2024), Mar 2025)
• Movements rose 18.8% to 505,920 in 2023. (DHMI (airport statistics 2023), Apr 2024)
• They rose 52.4% to 425,852 in 2022. (DHMI (airport statistics 2022), Jun 2023)
• There were 279,509 movements in 2021. (DHMI (airport statistics 2021), Jun 2022)
• Movements fell 43.8% to 185,424 in 2020. (DHMI (airport statistics 2020), Apr 2021)
• The airport had 329,900 movements in 2019. (DHMI (airport statistics 2019), May 2020)
• From January to September 2026 DHMI counted 414,553 movements, up 0.97%, of which 405,555 were commercial, up 1.40%, on provisional figures. (DHMI (airport statistics Jan-Sep 2026), Oct 2026)
• Next on EUROCONTROL's 2025 list of Europe's busiest airports by flights were Amsterdam with 1,351 a day, Heathrow with 1,315, Paris-CDG with 1,314 and Frankfurt with 1,261. (EUROCONTROL (2025 review), Jan 2026)
• EUROCONTROL ranked Istanbul seventh in the world for average daily departures in 2025, the only European airport in the top 10. (EUROCONTROL (2025 review, global airports), Jan 2026)
• In 2024 Istanbul averaged 1,401 flights a day, the busiest airport in the EUROCONTROL network, ahead of Amsterdam with 1,336 and Heathrow with 1,302. (EUROCONTROL (Network Operations Report 2024), May 2025)
• In the week of 23 February to 1 March 2026 Istanbul was top in Europe with an average of 1,303 flights a day, on EUROCONTROL data cited by the Minister of Transport. (DHMI (EUROCONTROL week, Feb 2026), Mar 2026)
• From 10 to 16 August 2026 it averaged 1,665 flights a day, and its 843 average daily departures ranked sixth among 25 global airports, on EUROCONTROL data cited by the Minister. (DHMI (EUROCONTROL week, Aug 2026), Aug 2026)
• From 7 to 13 September 2026 it averaged 1,643 flights a day, ahead of Amsterdam with 1,413 and Paris-CDG with 1,407, and ranked fifth in the world with 829 daily departures. (DHMI (EUROCONTROL week, Sep 2026), Sep 2026)
• The airport set an all-time record of 1,787 flights on 30 August 2026, the President of Türkiye said at the fourth runway opening. (DHMI (fourth runway opening), Sep 2026)

DHMI counts all aircraft movements, including non-commercial flights, and commercial movements separately. EUROCONTROL counts average daily arrival and departure flights in its network and ranks world airports by departures; these are different measures from DHMI's yearly totals. Weekly figures are EUROCONTROL's, as cited in DHMI releases. DHMI's January 2026 release and ACI World give slightly different 2025 movement totals, which are not used.

Is Istanbul the world's most connected airport?

Yes, on two separate rankings: OAG's Megahubs index for 2026 and ACI EUROPE's hub connectivity ranking for 2025. They measure different things, and ACI EUROPE puts Istanbul's rise down mainly to the growth of Turkish Airlines.

• OAG ranked Istanbul first in its Megahubs 2026 index, its first time at the top, up from second in 2025, with London Heathrow moving to second. (OAG (Megahubs 2026 release), Sep 2026)
• OAG counts 89,456 possible connections at Istanbul and flights to 337 destinations. (OAG (Megahubs 2026 release), Sep 2026)
• ACI EUROPE's 2025 connectivity report ranked Istanbul first in the world for hub connectivity, replacing Frankfurt, up from sixth in 2019 and third in 2024; its hub connectivity was 59% above 2019. (ACI EUROPE (connectivity report 2025), Jun 2025)
• Istanbul also kept first place in Europe for direct connectivity, 13% above 2019, and led for direct connectivity to the Middle East and came second for Asia-Pacific. (ACI EUROPE (connectivity report 2025), Jun 2025)

OAG's index measures scheduled international connections possible within six hours on the busiest day of the year, against the number of destinations served. ACI EUROPE's hub connectivity counts onward connections through the airport weighted by quality, and its direct connectivity counts direct flights. The two rankings are not comparable with each other.

How big is Turkish Airlines at Istanbul Airport?

Turkish Airlines is the airport's main airline, and its growth drives the airport's. Its traffic figures cover its whole network, including its low-cost brand AJet and flights at other Turkish airports, so they are not Istanbul Airport totals.

View data table

International-to-international transfer passengers on the whole Turkish Airlines network, including AJet, in millions. Each year comes from the airline's report for that year, with 2022 as revised in its 2023 report; the link is to the latest one.

Period	Value
2019	24.6m
2022	23.4m
2023	29.8m
2024	31.7m
2025	35.7m

• OAG says Turkish Airlines operates 80% of the flights at Istanbul Airport. (OAG (Megahubs 2026 release), Sep 2026)
• Across its whole network, including AJet, Turkish Airlines carried 35,732,640 international-to-international transfer passengers in 2025, up 12.8%. (Turkish Airlines (2025 traffic), Jan 2026)
• Its network-wide 2025 passengers, including AJet, split into 60,733,733 international and 31,903,492 domestic. (Turkish Airlines (2025 traffic), Jan 2026)
• Turkish Airlines, including AJet, flew to 356 destinations across its network in 2025, up from 352, with a fleet of 516. (Turkish Airlines (2025 traffic), Jan 2026)
• For 2024 the airline gives 85,129,553 passengers and 31,664,753 international-to-international transfers across its whole network, including AJet. (Turkish Airlines (2025 traffic), Jan 2026)
• In December 2025 alone the whole Turkish Airlines network, including AJet, carried 7,309,390 passengers, up 13.5%, 3,171,449 of them international-to-international transfers. (Turkish Airlines (December 2025 traffic), Jan 2026)
• In 2019 Turkish Airlines carried 74,282,064 passengers across its whole network, 24,607,915 of them international-to-international transfers. (Turkish Airlines (2022 traffic), Jan 2023)
• Its network-wide passengers rose 16.1% to 83,377,777 in 2023, and international-to-international transfers rose 27.1% to 29,775,598. (Turkish Airlines (2023 traffic), Jan 2024)
• From January to September 2026 the whole Turkish Airlines network, including AJet, carried 73.0 million passengers, up 5.2%: 47.7 million international and 25.3 million domestic. (Turkish Airlines (Jan-Sep 2026 traffic), Oct 2026)
• Across its network in that period it carried 1,756.8 thousand tonnes of cargo and mail, up 10.6%, flew to 358 destinations and had a fleet of 567. (Turkish Airlines (Jan-Sep 2026 traffic), Oct 2026)

Turkish Airlines reports its whole network at all airports, and its reports say the results include AJet. These are not Istanbul Airport counts and are not added to or compared with DHMI's airport figures. The airline's destination counts are for its network and differ from iGA's and OAG's counts for the airport. OAG's 80% is its schedule-based share of flights.

How do Sabiha Gökçen and Atatürk compare?

Istanbul has two big passenger airports: Istanbul Airport on the European side and Sabiha Gökçen on the Asian side, which is growing faster. Atatürk, the old main airport, closed to scheduled passenger flights in 2019 and now handles only a small number of other flights.

View data table

Passengers at Sabiha Gökçen each year, in millions, on DHMI's count. 2018 to 2024 come from DHMI's year-end tables and 2025 from its January 2026 release; the link is to the latest one.

Period	Value
2018	34.1m
2019	35.6m
2020	17.0m
2021	24.9m
2022	30.7m
2023	36.8m
2024	41.4m
2025	48.4m

• DHMI counted 48,420,757 passengers at Sabiha Gökçen in 2025, up 17%, including 4,203,352 in December. (DHMI (2025 traffic release), Jan 2026)
• Sabiha Gökçen had 275,537 aircraft movements in 2025. (DHMI (airport statistics 2025), Feb 2026)
• It handled 41,449,044 passengers in 2024, up 12.6%, and 242,612 movements. (DHMI (airport statistics 2024), Mar 2025)
• Sabiha Gökçen handled 36,825,424 passengers in 2023, up 19.8%. (DHMI (airport statistics 2023), Apr 2024)
• It handled 35,560,610 passengers in 2019, up 4.2% on 2018. (DHMI (airport statistics 2019), May 2020)
• From January to September 2026 Sabiha Gökçen handled 37,948,837 passengers, up 6.54%, growing faster than Istanbul Airport, on provisional figures. (DHMI (airport statistics Jan-Sep 2026), Oct 2026)
• Istanbul's two airports together served 63,447,607 passengers in the first half of 2026. (DHMI (Jun 2026 traffic), Jul 2026)
• OAG ranked Sabiha Gökçen 21st in the world in Megahubs 2026, up from 29th, with an index score of 145.6 and 162 destinations, and third among low-cost megahubs, up from seventh. (OAG (Megahubs 2026 results), Sep 2026)
• ACI EUROPE put Sabiha Gökçen's direct connectivity 14% above 2019 and its hub connectivity 75% above in 2025. (ACI EUROPE (connectivity report 2025), Jun 2025)
• Atatürk handled 68,346,784 passengers in 2018, up 6.6%, with 464,646 aircraft movements; it had 64,106,014 passengers in 2017. (DHMI (airport statistics 2018), Apr 2019)
• In 2019 Atatürk handled 16,112,804 passengers before scheduled passenger flights moved to the new airport. (DHMI (airport statistics 2019), May 2020)
• DHMI's annual report says TAV's lease of Atatürk's terminals, signed for $2.543 billion plus VAT over 15.5 years, ended when the airport closed to commercial flights. (DHMI (Annual Report 2025), May 2026)
• Atatürk still logged 28,747 aircraft movements in 2025, with no passengers. (DHMI (airport statistics 2025), Feb 2026)

Sabiha Gökçen is run by a private company under the supervision of Türkiye's Presidency of Defence Industries, and Istanbul Airport by iGA under DHMI's supervision; all passenger and movement counts here are DHMI's. OAG's and ACI EUROPE's figures are their own connectivity indexes. Atatürk's 2019 figure covers only the months before the move.

How does Istanbul Airport fit into Türkiye's airports?

Istanbul's two airports handle close to half of Türkiye's air passengers, and air travel in Türkiye set a record in 2025. National growth slowed in 2026.

• Türkiye's airports served a record 247,163,531 passengers in 2025, including direct transit passengers, on DHMI's count. (DHMI (2025 traffic release), Jan 2026)
• They recorded 1,928,411 aircraft movements in 2025, up 8.79%, or 2,511,725 including overflights, and handled 2,213,007 tonnes of cargo. (DHMI (airport statistics 2025), Feb 2026)
• From January to September 2026 Türkiye's airports served 193,156,231 passengers including direct transit, up 2.9%. (DHMI (Jan-Sep 2026 release), Oct 2026)
• From January to July 2026 they served 138,758,202 passengers including direct transit, up 2.6%. (DHMI (Jul 2026 traffic), Aug 2026)
• In January 2026 Istanbul's two airports together passed 11.1 million passengers, almost one in two of the 17,785,633 air passengers in Türkiye that month. (DHMI (Jan 2026 traffic), Feb 2026)
• The Minister of Transport named Istanbul Airport and Antalya, with capacity for 82 million passengers a year, as Türkiye's two highest-capacity airports. (DHMI (Aug 2026 traffic), Sep 2026)
• IATA ranked Türkiye the world's tenth-largest air passenger market in 2025, with 129.3 million passengers. (IATA (World Air Transport Statistics 2025), Jul 2026)

DHMI's national totals include direct transit passengers, which it reports for Türkiye as a whole and not airport by airport. IATA counts passenger journeys by country, with domestic journeys counted once, so its market figure is not comparable with airport counts.

How much cargo does Istanbul Airport handle?

Istanbul is one of Europe's two biggest cargo airports and has swapped first place with Frankfurt in recent years. DHMI's cargo count for the airport nearly doubled in 2022, the year Atatürk's cargo traffic all but ended.

View data table

Cargo at Istanbul Airport each year, in thousand tonnes, on DHMI's cargo count, which leaves out baggage and mail. Each year comes from DHMI's table for that year; the link is to the latest one.

Period	Value
2019	591k t
2020	495k t
2021	783k t
2022	1,504k t
2023	1,552k t
2024	2,039k t
2025	2,086k t

• DHMI's 2025 cargo count split into 48,946 tonnes domestic and 2,037,296 tonnes international, up 2.3%; adding baggage and mail, the airport handled 3,592,147 tonnes. (DHMI (airport statistics 2025), Feb 2026)
• DHMI counted 2,038,768 tonnes of cargo in 2024, up 31.3%. (DHMI (airport statistics 2024), Mar 2025)
• It counted 1,552,336 tonnes in 2023. (DHMI (airport statistics 2023), Apr 2024)
• Cargo rose 92.1% to 1,504,372 tonnes in 2022. (DHMI (airport statistics 2022), Jun 2023)
• Istanbul Airport handled 783,304 tonnes in 2021, while Atatürk still handled 797,144 tonnes in 2020 and 815,449 tonnes in 2021. (DHMI (airport statistics 2021), Jun 2022)
• Atatürk's cargo fell to 58,543 tonnes in 2022 and to zero in 2023. (DHMI (airport statistics 2023), Apr 2024)
• Istanbul Airport handled 494,602 tonnes in 2020, down 16.3%. (DHMI (airport statistics 2020), Apr 2021)
• It handled 590,962 tonnes in 2019. (DHMI (airport statistics 2019), May 2020)
• Cargo in the first half of 2026 was 1,074,392 tonnes, up 9.06% on 985,140 tonnes a year earlier. (DHMI (airport statistics Jan-Jun 2026), Jul 2026)
• From January to September 2026 DHMI counted 1,631,973 tonnes, up 7.46%, on provisional figures. (DHMI (airport statistics Jan-Sep 2026), Oct 2026)
• ACI World ranked Istanbul 18th in the world for cargo in 2025, with 1,980,600 tonnes of freight and mail. (ACI World (2025 rankings), Jul 2026)
• Global air cargo passed 131 million tonnes in 2025, up 3.3%, on ACI World's count. (ACI World (2025 rankings), Jul 2026)
• ACI EUROPE named Istanbul Europe's busiest freight airport in 2024, with 1.97 million tons, up 39.6%, ahead of Frankfurt with 1.95 million. (ACI EUROPE (2024 traffic report), Feb 2025)
• For 2025 ACI EUROPE put Frankfurt back in first place for freight, with 1.99 million tons, ahead of Istanbul. (ACI EUROPE (2025 traffic report), Feb 2026)
• iGA reports 2 million tonnes of cargo in 2025 and more than 150 cargo connections. (iGA (2025 sustainability report), Sep 2026)
• iGA says its cargo facilities have an initial capacity of 4 million tonnes a year, rising to 5.5 million tonnes when all phases are built. (iGA (about us), Nov 2026)

Four producers count cargo here on different definitions. DHMI counts cargo loaded and unloaded, and separately a wider load figure that adds baggage and mail. ACI World counts freight and mail, ACI EUROPE reports freight, and iGA gives its own rounded total. Their figures are named and not compared. DHMI's tables show Atatürk's cargo ending but do not give the reason. Capacity figures are iGA's plans.

How many destinations and airlines does Istanbul Airport have?

Istanbul Airport has nonstop flights to well over 300 destinations, and Turkish Airlines operates most of its flights. Counts of destinations and airlines vary with who counts and what they include.

• Scheduled passenger 117
• Charter passenger 48
• Scheduled cargo 15

• iGA says the airport has nonstop flights to more than 340 destinations in more than 128 countries. (iGA (connectivity page), Nov 2026)
• iGA lists 180+ airlines: 117 scheduled passenger airlines, 48 charter passenger airlines and 15 scheduled cargo airlines. (iGA (connectivity page), Nov 2026)
• iGA's 2025 sustainability report gives 344 destinations for 2025. (iGA (2025 sustainability report), Sep 2026)
• The Minister of Transport said the airport has links through more than 110 airline partnerships. (DHMI (fourth runway countdown), Sep 2026)
• iGA lists 181 shopping and 114 food and beverage units at the airport, and a parking area of 1 million m2. (iGA (airport in numbers), Nov 2026)

iGA's destination counts cover all airlines at the airport. OAG's destination count is for September 2025 to August 2026 on its own definition, and Turkish Airlines' destination counts cover its whole network. Airline counts also differ by definition, from scheduled passenger airlines only to all airlines including cargo and charter.

How big can Istanbul Airport get, and how many runways does it have?

Istanbul Airport is being built in phases, and the second phase is under way. It opened a fourth main runway in September 2026, and in 2025 it became the first airport in Europe to run three runways independently at the same time.

1. 1 Before 120 an hour
2. 2 With triple runway operations 148 an hour

• iGA says the terminal covers 1.4 million m2 under one roof, with capacity for 90 million passengers a year, and that at full capacity the airport will serve 200 million passengers a year to over 350 destinations. (iGA (about us), Nov 2026)
• DHMI's annual report says that when all phases are complete the airport will have terminals of about 2 million m2 with capacity for 150-200 million passengers a year, 6 runways and an apron of about 6.5 million m2. (DHMI (Annual Report 2025), May 2026)
• Before the fourth runway the airport had 3 main and 2 reserve runways on a site of 76.5 million m2. (DHMI (fourth runway opening), Sep 2026)
• The existing main and reserve runways all run north-south, and the new runway, 45 m wide, was built on an east-west line. (DHMI (fourth runway works), Aug 2026)
• iGA says triple independent runway operations raised hourly capacity from 120 to 148 aircraft movements, and that it was the first airport in Europe to run them. (iGA (triple runway operations), Apr 2025)
• Triple runway operations began on 17 April 2025; DHMI reports records of 81 departures in one hour on 2 July 2025 and 78 landings in one hour on 29 November 2025. (DHMI (triple runway operations), Apr 2026)
• DHMI says approach distances improved by 21%, saving about 40 nautical miles per landing in its analysis. (DHMI (triple runway operations), Apr 2026)
• The first phase held its opening ceremony on 29 October 2018 and moved to full-capacity operation on 7 April 2019; the third runway opened on 14 June 2020, and DHMI approved final acceptance of the first phase on 2 November 2021. (DHMI (Annual Report 2025), May 2026)
• Phase 2 stages 2A and 2C began with the site handover on 3 August 2023, starting a 54-month investment period. (DHMI (Annual Report 2025), May 2026)

Capacity figures are plans stated by their producers: iGA gives 200 million passengers a year at full build-out and DHMI a range of 150-200 million. Runway counts depend on whether the two reserve runways are included: since September 2026 there are 4 main runways. iGA's about page predates the fourth runway.

Who owns Istanbul Airport, and what did it cost?

The state owns the airport, and a private company, iGA, built it and runs it under a build-operate-transfer deal with DHMI. iGA pays rent over the concession, which now runs to 2046 after a pause during the pandemic.

• DHMI tendered the airport on 3 May 2013 as a build-operate-transfer project with an investment value of €10.247 billion, and signed the contract with iGA on 19 November 2013. (DHMI (Annual Report 2025), May 2026)
• Construction of the four-phase project began when the site was handed over on 1 May 2015. (DHMI (Annual Report 2025), May 2026)
• iGA was set up on 7 October 2013 by the Cengiz, MAPA, Limak, Kolin and Kalyon joint venture, and says the airport was built and opened in 42 months. (iGA (about us), Nov 2026)
• Since April 2022 iGA has been owned 55% by Kalyon Holding and 45% by Cengiz Holding. (iGA (about us), Nov 2026)
• The operating period was suspended from 10 March 2020 to 31 October 2022 under a Covid-19 agreement, moving the end of the concession to 27 November 2046. (DHMI (Annual Report 2025), May 2026)
• DHMI expects its build-operate-transfer projects at Istanbul Airport and Çukurova together to bring in €36.5 billion excluding VAT, including rent. (DHMI (Annual Report 2025), May 2026)
• DHMI puts investment in its aviation public-private projects at €12.01 billion so far, rising to about €14.28 billion when all of Istanbul Airport's phases and other projects are complete. (DHMI (Annual Report 2025), May 2026)

The €10.247 billion is the contract's investment value for all phases, not spending to date. The €36.5 billion and €14.28 billion figures cover more than one project, not Istanbul Airport alone. All amounts are in euros as DHMI states them.

Are Istanbul Airport flights on time?

On EUROCONTROL's figures Istanbul is one of Europe's most punctual big airports, with departures more often on time in 2025 than at Heathrow, Paris-CDG, Amsterdam or Frankfurt.

1. 1 Istanbul 80.4%
2. 2 London Heathrow 78.3%
3. 3 Madrid 70.6%
4. 4 Frankfurt 67.0%
5. 5 Amsterdam 65.2%
6. 6 Paris-CDG 64.6%

• On EUROCONTROL's measure, departure punctuality in 2025 was 78.3% at Heathrow, 70.6% at Madrid, 67.0% at Frankfurt, 65.2% at Amsterdam and 64.6% at Paris-CDG. (EUROCONTROL (Performance Review Report 2025), Mar 2026)
• Arrival punctuality was 79.4% at Heathrow, 80.0% at Madrid and 76.2% at Paris-CDG. (EUROCONTROL (Performance Review Report 2025), Mar 2026)
• The Minister of Transport gave Istanbul Airport an on-time performance rate of 80.72% in 2025, against a European average of 71.2%, without stating the method. (DHMI (triple runway operations), Apr 2026)
• In summer 2026, 81% of Istanbul departures were on time, among the highest of Europe's 30 busiest airports; Stockholm Arlanda led with 82% and Lisbon was lowest with 52%. (EUROCONTROL (summer 2026 briefing), Sep 2026)
• EUROCONTROL listed Istanbul and Sabiha Gökçen among the three airports whose departure punctuality improved most in 2024 compared with 2023. (EUROCONTROL (Network Operations Report 2024), May 2025)

EUROCONTROL counts flights within 15 minutes of schedule using airport operator data, with arrivals and departures measured separately. The Ministry's rate does not state its method and is not compared with EUROCONTROL's. The summer 2026 figures cover departures from June to August only.

How many jobs does Istanbul Airport support?

The operator iGA is one of many employers at the airport, alongside airlines, ground handlers and state agencies. Estimates of the airport's wider effect on jobs and the economy come from a study iGA commissioned and from government statements.

• iGA's workforce grew 10.2% in 2025; 30.34% of its employees were women, and they had an average of 30.3 hours of training each. (iGA (2025 sustainability report), Sep 2026)
• DHMI itself had 303 staff at Istanbul Airport at the end of 2025, against 736 at Atatürk. (DHMI (Annual Report 2025), May 2026)
• A study commissioned by iGA put its direct and indirect contribution to Türkiye's economy at $24.2 billion in 2023, 2.2% of national income, and projects 3.25% and 472,000 jobs by 2030. (iGA (about us), Nov 2026)
• At the fourth runway opening the President of Türkiye said more than 1,100 businesses operate at the airport and its employment effect is over 300,000. (DHMI (fourth runway opening), Sep 2026)
• He said every 1 lira invested in the airport returns 5.6 lira to the economy, and each direct job creates a workforce effect of 5 people across Türkiye. (DHMI (fourth runway opening), Sep 2026)
• The government projects $44 billion of revenue from activities linked to the airport in 2030. (DHMI (fourth runway opening), Sep 2026)

iGA's employee figures cover the company only, and DHMI's staff count covers public authority staff only; neither is total employment at the airport. The employment effect and economic contribution are estimates from a study and a speech, the study's method is not set out on iGA's page, and the 2030 figures are projections.

What is Istanbul Airport doing about emissions?

iGA now gets more than half of its electricity from renewables after opening its own solar plant, and its own emissions are below 2019. DHMI says the triple runway system cuts taxi times and fuel burn.

• iGA commissioned the 240 MW Eskişehir solar power plant in August 2025, meeting 54% of its 2025 electricity needs from renewables; it expects the plant to avoid about 105,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. (iGA (2025 sustainability report), Sep 2026)
• iGA's Scope 1 and 2 emissions were 27.8% below 2019; its targets are cuts of 45% by 2030 and 73% by 2040, and net zero by 2050. (iGA (2025 sustainability report), Sep 2026)
• It used 1,066,892 m3 of reclaimed water in 2025, 42% of its water. (iGA (2025 sustainability report), Sep 2026)
• DHMI says triple runway operations cut average taxi times by 10.2% for landings and 2.8% for departures, lowering fuel use by 6.6% to 14.4%. (DHMI (triple runway operations), Apr 2026)
• The Ministry estimates savings of about 352 kg of fuel and 1,112 kg of CO2 per flight for a typical narrow-body aircraft, about 50,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, and gives a 2053 net-zero target for the airport. (DHMI (triple runway operations), Apr 2026)

iGA's emissions figures cover its own operations (Scope 1 and 2), not aircraft in flight. The fuel and CO2 savings are Ministry estimates. iGA's net-zero year and the Ministry's differ and are given as each states them.

Methodology and sources

Figures come from DHMI's traffic releases, airport statistics tables and 2025 annual report, iGA's own pages and 2025 sustainability report, Turkish Airlines' traffic reports, ACI World, ACI EUROPE, EUROCONTROL, OAG and IATA. Each figure links to the body that produced it, with the date. DHMI's, ACI's and iGA's passenger totals are kept apart; for 2025 DHMI's January 2026 release is used, not its later table. Cargo on DHMI's, ACI World's, ACI EUROPE's and iGA's definitions, EUROCONTROL and Ministry punctuality, OAG and ACI EUROPE connectivity, and DHMI and EUROCONTROL flight counts are also kept apart. Turkish Airlines figures cover its whole network, including AJet. Where we worked out a figure from a producer's data, the text says so. Forecasts, projections and plans are labelled with who made them and when. The page is reviewed monthly and the date is shown at the top.

• ACI EUROPE (2024 traffic report) · Feb 2025
• ACI EUROPE (2025 traffic report) · Feb 2026
• ACI EUROPE (connectivity report 2025) · Jun 2025
• ACI EUROPE (first half 2026) · Jul 2026
• ACI EUROPE (summer 2026 traffic) · Sep 2026
• ACI World (2025 rankings) · Jul 2026
• DHMI (1 August 2026 record) · Aug 2026
• DHMI (16 August 2026 record) · Aug 2026
• DHMI (2025 traffic release) · Jan 2026
• DHMI (airport statistics 2018) · Apr 2019
• DHMI (airport statistics 2019) · May 2020
• DHMI (airport statistics 2020) · Apr 2021
• DHMI (airport statistics 2021) · Jun 2022
• DHMI (airport statistics 2022) · Jun 2023
• DHMI (airport statistics 2023) · Apr 2024
• DHMI (airport statistics 2024) · Mar 2025
• DHMI (airport statistics Jan-Jun 2026) · Jul 2026
• DHMI (airport statistics Jan-Sep 2026) · Oct 2026
• DHMI (Annual Report 2025) · May 2026
• DHMI (Aug 2026 traffic) · Sep 2026
• DHMI (cargo by year) · Feb 2026
• DHMI (EUROCONTROL week, Aug 2026) · Aug 2026
• DHMI (EUROCONTROL week, Feb 2026) · Mar 2026
• DHMI (EUROCONTROL week, Sep 2026) · Sep 2026
• DHMI (fourth runway countdown) · Sep 2026
• DHMI (fourth runway opening) · Sep 2026
• DHMI (fourth runway works) · Aug 2026
• DHMI (Jan 2026 traffic) · Feb 2026
• DHMI (Jan-Sep 2026 release) · Oct 2026
• DHMI (Jul 2026 traffic) · Aug 2026
• DHMI (Jun 2026 traffic) · Jul 2026
• DHMI (Mar 2026 traffic) · Apr 2026
• DHMI (May 2026 traffic) · Jun 2026
• DHMI (Ministry forecast, May 2026) · May 2026
• DHMI (triple runway operations) · Apr 2026
• EUROCONTROL (2025 review, global airports) · Jan 2026
• EUROCONTROL (Network Operations Report 2024) · May 2025
• EUROCONTROL (Performance Review Report 2025) · Mar 2026
• EUROCONTROL (summer 2026 briefing) · Sep 2026
• IATA (World Air Transport Statistics 2025) · Jul 2026
• iGA (2025 sustainability report) · Sep 2026
• iGA (about us) · Nov 2026
• iGA (connectivity page) · Nov 2026
• iGA (fourth runway opening) · Sep 2026
• iGA (triple runway operations) · Apr 2025
• OAG (Megahubs 2026 release) · Sep 2026
• OAG (Megahubs 2026 results) · Sep 2026
• Turkish Airlines (2022 traffic) · Jan 2023
• Turkish Airlines (2023 traffic) · Jan 2024
• Turkish Airlines (Jan-Sep 2026 traffic) · Oct 2026
• Turkish Airlines (transfer passengers by year) · Jan 2026