Over 247 million people flew in Turkey in 2025, breaking the country’s previous record, according to Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu on Wednesday. In a written statement evaluating statistics from the State Airports Authority (DHMI), Uraloğlu stated that 247.16 million individuals went by air last year, including direct transit passengers.
“Thus, we have broken the all-time record for the number of passengers travelling by air in the history of the Republic,” the minister noted.
The data shows that overall aircraft movements, including overflights, increased by 9.3% to 2.51 million in 2025. In comparison to the previous year, passenger traffic increased by 7.1%. According to Uraloğlu, passenger counts jumped 12.6% to 17.53 million in December alone, including transit travellers, while overall aircraft traffic increased 11.7% from a year earlier to 189,376 flights.
According to DHMI figures, December’s cargo and freight traffic was 412,007 tons, while the year’s overall cargo volumes were 5.15 million tons.
Passenger numbers at Istanbul Airport reached a record 84.46 million in December, up 5% from 2024, with an 11% year-over-year increase to 6.93 million. The airport saw 549,319 aircraft movements overall, a 6% increase over the previous year.
The number of passengers at Sabiha Gökçen International Airport increased by 17% to 48.42 million throughout the entire year, and by 18% to 4.2 million in December. There were 274,620 aircraft movements at the airport.
In 2025, Turkey’s top tourist attractions saw high passenger numbers as well. According to Uraloğlu, there were approximately 62.88 million passengers served at airports in tourist destinations with significant international traffic. There were 424,870 airplanes in all.
39.16 million Passengers were handled by Antalya Airport, 12.66 million by Izmir Adnan Menderes, 5.64 million by Dalaman, 4.41 million by Milas-Bodrum, and little more than one million by Gazipaşa-Alanya.
Source: Daily Sabah
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