The number of air passengers who traveled through Türkiye's two busiest airports in Istanbul grew by 31 million year-over-year in January-November.

Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gökçen Airport welcomed 87.1 million passengers in the first 11 months of this year, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency (AA) from the Directorate General of State Airports Authority (DHMI).

Making it a 56% rise from the same period last year thanks to the widespread easing of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Istanbul Airport saw more than 59 million air passengers in the 11-month period, surging 78% from a year ago.

Some 14.8 million passengers took domestic flights and 44.3 million went on international flights through Istanbul Airport.

Meanwhile, Sabiha Gökçen Airport on the city's Anatolian side served 14.7 million domestic and 14.1 million international passengers between January and November.

In the 11 months of this year, along with the number of passengers, round-trip flights based in Istanbul airports also increased.

Some 100,950 domestic flights and 287,511 international flights were made at Istanbul Airport in the January-November period of this year.

The gleaming glass-and-steel structure along the Black Sea coast has managed to turn into one of the most important transit centers in aviation since it was officially declared open in late October 2018, before becoming fully operational in April 2019.

It reflected 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, while it is a high figure, is nothing compared to its potential capacity 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.