Officially inaugurated on Oct. 29, 2018, on the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Türkiye, Istanbul Airport on the metropolis’ European half has served nearly 1.5 million planes so far.
The first operational flight to Istanbul Airport was on June 21, 2018, with the landing of the Presidential "TC-ANK" plane on the first runway, which is 3,750 meters (12,303.15 feet) long and 60 meters wide.
According to data compiled by Anadolu Agency (AA), some 209.8 million passengers have traveled through the mega airport since its opening.
Istanbul Airport welcomed 95,205 passengers in 2018 and 51.9 million in 2019.
It took over air traffic from Ataturk Airport which closed to civil aviation on April 6, 2019.
Some 23.3 million traveled through Istanbul Airport and 185,642 planes were served in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic hit the air transport globally.
The airport saw 37 million passengers and 280,108 planes in 2021.
Last year, 425,890 planes landed and took off at Istanbul Airport, while the passenger traffic hit 64.3 million.
The airport reflects the emergence of Istanbul, Europe’s largest city straddling Europe and Asia, as a major regional transport hub.
Istanbul Airport can handle 90 million passengers a year in the current phase, which is a fraction of its potential capacity being able to serve 200 million after the completion of all phases, making it the world’s largest.
All four phases of the airport’s construction and expansion, including six runways, are expected to be completed by 2028.
