Istanbul Atatürk Airport

Turkey welcomed 26.2 million air passengers in the first two months of 2020, the state airport authority announced on March 6. 

The figure was down by 2.2 percent from the same period last year, the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI) said in a statement.

International passengers made up 44 percent of total passengers in the first two months of this year.

Turkey's airports served a total of 13.93 million passengers in January, a slight 0.8 percent decline from a year ago, data from the airports authority (DHMİ) have shown.

Runways and other facilities at the mega Istanbul Airport are designed to serve passengers and airplanes at best performance, Kadri Samsunlu, CEO of İGA, which operated the city's new airport, has said in an interview.

Samsunlu dismissed suggestions that wind in the area where the airport is located, may cause problems.

Images of two men accused of helping fugitive businessman Carlos Ghosn escape via an Istanbul airport published by Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency.

The security camera images, first made public on Jan. 16, show Michael Taylor and George Antoine Zayek at passport control in Istanbul Airport.

The number of passengers using Istanbul's three airports, namely Istanbul, Sabiha Gökçen and Atatürk, increased by 1.55 million to stand at 104.1 million in 2019.

In 2018, 102.6 million passengers used Istanbul's airports.

The city's new mega airport, Istanbul Airport, hosted 52.6 million passengers and a total of 329,799 flights last year.

Turkish Airlines will open four new routes in 2020 as it expands and updates its fleet, according to the chairman of Turkey's flag carrier.

"We finished all procedures to launch flights to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, Tokyo's Haneda Airport, Newark, New Jersey, and Vancouver, Canada in 2019," said İlker Aycı, adding that now they are just waiting for the necessary permits.

People visit the memorial to honour the victims of the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt, during a ceremony to mark the 3rd anniversary, in Istanbul, Monday. Turkey is marking the third anniversary of the July 15 failed coup attempt against the government with prayers and other events remembering its victims. [AP]

The new mega-Istanbul Airport served a flight every 74 seconds after it took over air traffic from the former Ataturk Airport on April 6.

Istanbul Airport has served a total of 15.99 million passengers between April 6, when it took over air traffic from the city's former main airport Atatürk, and July 1.

A Turkish court on June 20 handed down aggravated life sentences to scores of convicts for their involvement in the defeated 2016 coup in Turkey, according to judicial sources.