Passenger numbers at airports reached 174 million...

Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Ahmet Arslan stated that, despite all the adverse developments experienced last year such as the treacherous coup attempt of July 15 and the chaos in the Middle East, the number of passengers carried by air came in at 174 million.

In a statement to an AA correspondent, Minister Arslan noted that over the past 14 years they had carried out the greatest advances in the history of the Republic, and that, thanks to the investments made, Turkey was one of the fastest-growing countries particularly in the field of aviation.

Stating that during this period the number of airports had more than doubled from 26 to 55, Arslan said: "Millions of our people who had never set foot on a plane can now make almost all of their journeys by air. As a result, our total passenger number, which was 34 million in 2003, rose to 182 million last year. In 2016, despite all the adverse developments experienced, above all the treacherous coup attempt of July 15 and the chaos in the Middle East, the number of passengers carried by air was 174 million."

"12 MILLION PASSENGERS USED AIR TRAVEL IN DECEMBER"

Stating that the number of passengers who used air travel in December of last year was 12 million 84 thousand, Arslan reported that 7 million 733 thousand 239 of these were domestic and 4 million 330 thousand 128 were international passengers.

Pointing out that during that month the total aircraft traffic at airports increased by 2 percent compared to the same month of the previous year to 67 thousand 872 on domestic routes, while decreasing by 7 percent to 36 thousand 122 on international routes, Arslan made the following assessment: "The upward trend in overflight traffic continued due to the unavailability of all or certain parts of the airspace of neighboring countries. In December of last year, overflight traffic increased by 21.3 percent compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching 30 thousand 884. By year-end, overflight traffic reached 376 thousand 928, an increase of 5.2 percent."

"AIR CARGO TRAFFIC ROSE 4.8 PERCENT IN DECEMBER"

Minister Arslan reported that the cargo, mail and baggage traffic carried at airports reached 225 thousand 704 tons in December, saying: "As of December, our airport freight traffic was 56 thousand 182 tons on domestic routes, a decrease of 5.2 percent, and 169 thousand 522 tons on international routes, an increase of 8.6 percent. Thus, the December total reached 225 thousand 704 tons, an increase of 4.8 percent. The total freight traffic for 2016 was 2 million 942 thousand 784, a decrease of 4.2 percent compared to the previous year."

Detailed report: www.turob.org/istatistikler.aspx