According to a written statement released by the company on Monday, the number of international passengers using the airport, which is located in the Asian part of İstanbul, reached some 2.09 million in 2009, marking a 33.4 percent increase over the previous year. The number of domestic passengers increased by 63 percent to 4.55 million during the same period. In line with the rise in the number of passengers, the number of inward and outbound flights was also up by 35.5 percent compared with 2008, totaling 60,630.
Some 38 percent of international passengers flying via Sabiha Gökçen travelled to Germany, 12 percent to the UK and 9 percent to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC). Gökhan Buğday, CEO of the airport operating company, evaluated the figures in the statement and said that Sabiha Gökçen’s annual passenger capacity had risen to 20 million as the new international terminal building had started operations in October. He added that their target for this year is to raise the number of passengers to over 10 million.
The airport is operated by a multi-national consortium of Turkey’s Limak Holding (LİMAK), GMR Infrastructure (GMR) and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB).
