Turkey’s Istanbul Airport continues to ride high in the world ranking

Located on the European side of Istanbul, the Istanbul Airport was opened on October 29, 2018. Since then, the airport has drawn international attention for its outstanding capacity, infrastructure, management, efficiency, technology, service quality, and overall travelling experience.

Last year, with its 23.4 million passengers, the Istanbul Airport was the most visited European airport of 2020. Following the Istanbul Airport were the London Heathrow Airport and the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Just this past month, the airport celebrated several achievements. In August 2021, the Istanbul Airport won the Air Transport Research Society (ATRS) Award of Excellence for being the most efficient European airport in the category of airports with over 40 million yearly passengers. 

The airport, with the capacity of hosting 90 million passengers per year, received full points in several fields including management strategy, operational efficiency, and capacity.

The Istanbul Airport also came in second place among the Top 10 International Airports category of the World’s Best Awards survey of the Travel + Leisure magazine in 2021.

In the survey, airports were judged according to their accessibility, check-in processes, security, design, leisure areas, and shopping opportunities. The Istanbul Airport was named second with a score of 91,17, while the Singapore Changi Airport claimed first place with a score of 93,45.

The Istanbul Airport was named the Airport of the Year at the 2021 Air Transport Awards organized by Air Transport News. The winners are elected by the readers and executives of the Air Transport News, which collects the opinions of frequent travellers about airports worldwide.

Ismail Hakki Polat, iGA Airport Deputy General Manager for Planning, said “The fact that Istanbul Airport became this year's winner by outperforming many airports in the world is a strong indicator that we excel in our business. As Turkey's gateway to the world, Istanbul Airport will certainly be deemed worthy of many more awards in the future thanks to the unique travel experience it offers and its service approach."

It was also found that the Istanbul Airport has become Europe’s busiest airport according to 8 months of data from Turkey’s General Directorate of State Airports Authority. The airport supported 163,635 flights, with international flights taking up a total of 116,970 flights. 20,927,497 was the total passenger count, 14,680,714 of which were passengers of international flights.

The latest success of the airport was announced by Turkey’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Adil Karaismailoğlu, on 27 September 2021. Since its opening in 2018, the Istanbul Airport has hosted a total of 100,027,863 passengers, with 72,684,722 of the passengers taking international flights. The airport has seen a total of 705,986 flights, with international flights consisting of 507,940.

The Istanbul Airport provides passengers with a unique travelling experience with its attention to arts and culture. The airport hosts art exhibitions, workshops, and music performances. There is also a library and a museum at the international flights section. The museum is a meeting point for travellers and historic artifacts from around Turkey.

There are also two hotels within the airport, one before immigration and passport control and the other in the international transit area, respectively called Yotel and Yotelair.

As the prevailing global transit hub in its region, the Istanbul Airport’s international importance is growing with each passing day. Riding high, the Istanbul Airport will celebrate its third year next month.