Turkey sees almost 18 pct rise in air passengers

The number of passengers traveling through Turkish airports surged by 17.6 percent year-on-year in February, according to official data released on Tuesday.

Data from Turkey's General Directorate of State Airports Authority revealed that airports across the country served more than 13 million people last month.

The number of international passengers reached nearly 4.7 million in the month, rising 22 percent from February 2017.

The number of domestic fliers totaled 8.4 million, marking an increase of 15.5 percent during the same period.

According to Tuesday's data, Turkish airports served 129,972 planes, up 6.4 percent compared to the same month last year. Air cargo traffic was also on the rise during the same period.

The total amount of air cargo in February increased 18.5 percent year-on-year to reach 238,485 tons.

Istanbul’s Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen airports and capital Ankara's Esenboga Airport considerably contributed to the February figures.

Ataturk Airport served over 4.7 million passengers alone, up 18 percent on an annual basis.