Istanbul heads European airports in 2022 passenger numbers

Istanbul airport handled 64.5m passengers in 2022, making it the busiest in Europe last year, while airports elsewhere in the region have reported doubling or tripling of passenger figures. Figures released by Turkey’s state airports authority show more than three-quarters of Istanbul airport’s passenger volumes were generated on international routes in 2022, a year in which tourism drove a strong recovery. The 64.5m-passenger figure is 6% shy of the 68.7 million passengers who travelled through Istanbul’s main gateway in 2019 – a figure comprising combined traffic for Istanbul airport and the city’s Ataturk airport, which Istanbul replaced during a phased period in 2019. Passenger volumes at Istanbul airport in 2022 jumped 73% above 2021 levels. Two other Turkish airports recovered to handle more than 30m passengers last year; Antalya at just over 31m and Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport, at slightly less than 31m passengers. Full-year passenger figures for 2022 so far released by major European airports underline the recovery among the region’s bigger hubs as Covid-19 travel restrictions gradually eased. London Heathrow airport more than trebled passenger numbers year-on-year in 2022, handling almost 62m travellers. Almost a quarter of Heathrow’s passenger volumes were generated from the key transatlantic market. Still, Heathrow’s passenger traffic remains almost a quarter down on the nearly 81m passengers who travelled via the airport before the pandemic in 2019. <br/>