Turkish air passenger traffic up in first half of year

Passenger traffic through Turkish airports rose 16 percent in the first half of 2018, the country's airport authority said on Thursday.

In this period, more than 97.6 million people travelled through airports in Turkey, according to the General Directorate of State Airports Authority.

The number of international passengers went up 22.7 percent to reach over 10.1 million in June, while the number of passengers taking domestic flights reached 9.52 million, an increase of 6.7 percent in the same month.

The total amount of air cargo in June increased by 6.6 percent to 334,520 tons.

According to the data, Turkish airports served 187,944 planes -- including overflights -- rising 9 percent compared with the same month last year.

Istanbul's Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen airports and capital Ankara's Esenboğa Airport contributed considerably to the June figures.

Atatürk Airport served over 3.9 million passengers alone, up 11 percent on an annual basis.