The number of passengers Turkish airports served in the first five months of the year rose to 82 million, the country’s transport and infrastructure minister said on Tuesday.

The total count was up 12.7% compared to the same period last year, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said in a statement, citing State Airports Authority General Directorate (DHMI) data.

Some 37.1 million passengers took domestic flights, up 11.1% year-over-year, and 44.9 million passengers took international flights, 12.7% above last year’s figure, during the five months.

The cargo traffic reached 1.7 million tons in the same period, the minister said.

Türkiye's biggest and one of the biggest civil aviation hubs in the world, Istanbul Airport, hosted 31 million passengers in the five months, up 8% annually, and 207,800 planes, 5% more than last year’s figure.

Sabiha Gökçen Airport, Türkiye’s second-busiest airport, welcomed 16.2 million passengers in the same period, 20% above last year’s figure and 96,700 planes, up 10% year-over-year.

In May, Turkish airports welcomed 20.2 million passengers, a surge of 7.5% on an annual basis and served 200,600 planes, up 8.4%, including overpasses, with cargo traffic reaching 404,700 tons.

Istanbul Airport saw 6.7 million passengers with 44,700 planes, up 3% and 2%, respectively.

Sabiha Gökçen hosted 3.4 million passengers with 20,200 planes in May.