Türkiye’s civil aviation sector continued its growth momentum in the first half of the year, with the fleet of airline operators expanding to 846 aircraft and total seat capacity exceeding 166,000.
According to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (SHGM), a total of 111 million passengers traveled by air during the January-June period, including 50 million on domestic routes and 61 million on international routes.
Cargo traffic also increased during the period. Domestic flights carried 441,000 tons of freight, while international services transported 2.06 million tons, bringing total cargo volume to 2.5 million tons.
As of the end of the first half, Türkiye had 14 airline operators, 49 air taxi operators, 101 general aviation operators, 72 balloon operators, 13 ultralight aircraft operators, 165 maintenance organizations, 48 ground handling companies and 15 landing strips.
Air taxi operators had a total of 259 aircraft, while general aviation operators operated 632 aircraft. Balloon operators had 528 aircraft and ultralight aviation operators had 35 aircraft.
Türkiye’s aviation growth was not limited to passenger and cargo traffic. Over the past 23 years, the sector’s turnover increased 805-fold, surpassing 2.46 trillion Turkish Liras.
