“Istanbul Airport has outperformed its competitors in the world in terms of passenger and flight numbers in a short time. Istanbul Airport took its place among the most important transfer centers in the world and became the busiest airport in Europe,” Karaismailoğlu said.

"According to the data of the European Airports Council, Istanbul Airport ranked first among European airports with 19 million 957 thousand 147 passengers in the list of airports hosting the most passengers in the third quarter of this year, outperforming London, Paris, and Amsterdam airports,” he added.

Istanbul Airport is the main international airport serving Istanbul, Turkey. It is located in the Arnavutköy district on the European side of the city.

All scheduled commercial passenger flights were transferred from Atatürk Airport to Istanbul Airport on 6 April 2019, following the closure of Atatürk Airport for scheduled passenger flights.

The IATA airport code IST was also transferred to the new airport. (ILKHA)