ISTANBUL

Istanbul Airport last year was the second-busiest airport in Europe, and also number seven worldwide, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday.

The airport served 84.5 million air passengers in 2025, Erdogan said during an opening ceremony in Esenboga Airport, in the capital Ankara.

"With the goal of reaching every corner of the world, we have made Türkiye one of the countries with the farthest-reaching flight networks in the world," he said.

He stressed that by increasing the number of countries from 81 to 175, Türkiye became a country with the most air transport agreements in the world.

In 2002, the number of passengers traveling on domestic and international flights in Türkiye was only 34.5 million but in 2025, this number topped 247 million, he said.

With its third runway and new tower, Esenboga Airport's annual capacity will also be increased from 20 million to 30 million, Erdogan said.

He said the new parts of the airport, in projects valued at €298 million ($347 million), were made with no expenditures from the state Treasury.