Istanbul Airport targets nearly 90 million passengers in 2026

ISTANBUL

Istanbul Airport is setting ambitious goals for 2026, aiming to welcome close to 90 million passengers, according to Selahattin Bilgen, CEO of İGA, the airport’s operator.

From January to November 2025, the airport handled 77.5 million passengers, marking a 4 percent increase compared to the same period last year, the latest data from the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMİ) showed.

Speaking to a group of journalists, Bilgen emphasized that the airport has successfully attracted numerous new airlines this year and intends to continue expanding. “Today, 116 airlines operate scheduled flights at Istanbul Airport,” he said.

“The number of additional airlines we can bring in is now quite limited. Our target is to add six or seven more carriers next year. At the same time, we are working to ensure that existing airlines increase their flight frequencies. So, 2026 looks like a year when we will deepen further and add new destinations.”

He noted that Istanbul Airport has long been at the top in Europe in terms of daily flight movements. “In cargo, 2025 was the year we surpassed 2 million tons and rose to first place in Europe,” Bilgen said. “Previously, Frankfurt held the leadership in cargo volume. We brought that leadership to Istanbul in 2025. In 2026 and beyond, our goal is to climb higher on the global stage in cargo,” he added.

Bilgen also highlighted the airport’s ongoing investments.

The second phase of development continued throughout 2025, including the construction of a fourth main runway, which is scheduled for completion by the end of August 2026, Bilgen said. He added that plans are underway to expand terminal capacity to accommodate 120 million passengers in the future.