Despite COVID-19's ravaging impact on global air traffic bringing global aviation to a near halt, airports in Türkiye’s metropolis Istanbul hosted more than 20 million passengers in the first half of 2020.
According to the data released by the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI), Istanbul's all three airports Atatürk Airport, Sabiha Gökçen Airport and Istanbul Airport clocked as many as 165,714 flights and 20,464,286 passengers in the first 6 months of the year.
Having cemented its standing as the new aviation hub, Istanbul Airport made a major contribution to Türkiye’s air traffic with more than 12 million passengers in both domestic and international flights. Sabiha Gökçen Airport hosted 7.5 million passengers, while Atatürk Airport has been open only for private and cargo flights since April 2019.