Holiday rush at Sabiha Gökçen Airport: Record increase in flight and passenger numbers expected
Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport (ISG), Türkiye's second-busiest airport in passenger numbers and Europe's 9th busiest airport based on data for the first four months of 2025, is entering the Eid al-Adha holiday with a record. The airport, which saw its highest daily flight volume of all time with 784 flights on June 1st, has recently broken records, further demonstrating its growing passenger capacity, and new records are expected throughout the holiday.
A 7% increase is projected compared to the current schedule for the Eid al-Adha holiday, June 5-9, and the airport is preparing to host approximately 700,000 passengers during this five-day period, which includes the official holiday. Including those combining the Eid al-Adha holiday with weekends and turning it into a 10-day extended break, from June 2-13, 2025, approximately 1.6 million passengers are expected to use Sabiha Gökçen Airport, an 8% increase over the current schedule.
With its robust infrastructure and operational capacity, ISG has implemented a comprehensive series of preparations and measures to ensure guests can travel as comfortably and smoothly as possible during the busy holiday season. To this end, staffing has been increased through additional planning for operations, security, and cleaning. The number of e-passport counters, which provide fast and easy access in approximately 20 seconds, has been increased to 34: 15 on the departures floor and 19 on the arrivals floor. To ensure passengers' swift entry into the airport, arrangements have been made for a total of 110 X-Ray points throughout the terminal. To expand the airport's technological capabilities, free and unlimited Wi-Fi access has been provided, and water dispensers have been installed to provide free drinking water. The cooling system capacity within the terminal has also been increased. During this process, SAVVy, the innovative generative artificial intelligence digital assistant, will support passengers with instant responses and solutions for customer service issues.
“We are creating the infrastructure for strong growth at ISG.”
Kerem Maybek, Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport Strategic Planning and Treasury Management Director, shared the following information about the expansion and improvement work at ISG:
Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport's current T2 terminal has been in service for approximately 16 years, and last year, we broke a record by handling 41.5 million passengers. As part of the "Passenger Flow Improvement Project," which we launched in 2024 with an investment of approximately €34 million, we implemented a series of renovations at the terminal, along with technological and operational improvements to security and passport processes, to meet increasing passenger demand without disrupting existing passenger traffic. We successfully overcame the challenging task of renovating the infrastructure of a facility used by tens of thousands of people daily while simultaneously operating. We are continuing our efforts to achieve our 2025 targets. The development of the first terminal building, Terminal T1, which is currently idle, is continuing in coordination with the Airport Authority HEAŞ (Heavy Industries Corporation). With the rapid opening of Terminal T1, we will have additional capacity. We are also working closely with the Airport Authority HEAŞ and MAHB to develop the new terminal building.
"The friendly relationship between Türkiye and Malaysia provides great commercial gains for both countries."
Dato Mohd Izani Ghani, Managing Director of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, the investor and operator of Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (ISG) International Airport, commented on the group's operations in Turkey:
“As MAHB, we are in a successful period at all the airports under our responsibility and are focused on how to make our growth sustainable. We are strengthening our agility, expertise, and investment muscles to seize the opportunities that arise and maximize the benefits we will derive from them. Along with Turkey's strong tourism potential, Istanbul's strategic location at the center of two continents, its natural beauty, deep-rooted history, cultural and social richness, and commercial dynamism are accelerating the growth of Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport. This rapid growth rate at the airport has reached the point of straining infrastructure capacity. Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport, which has become a hub for airline connections between Europe, Asia, and Africa, is among the businesses we prioritize at MAHB. The friendly relationship between Turkey and Malaysia, reinforced by commercial collaborations, has yielded significant benefits for both parties.” We are very pleased to contribute to this friendship by doing our job well.”
Dato Izani stated that they are focusing on new destinations in Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe this year to enhance Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport's international competitiveness. He said, “The expanding global flight network offers passengers more destination options and makes the airport more attractive for international transfers. We have implemented several significant improvements to enhance the passenger travel experience and increase operational efficiency by increasing global connections. We believe that all these steps will support ISG's goal of becoming a strategic hub in the regional aviation market and its position as a strong hub in global aviation. Our 2025 target for Sabiha Gökçen Airport is to reach 43.2 million passengers. Furthermore, we aim to make the growth we have achieved through the high increase in passenger numbers sustainable. This expansion will not only enhance ISG's competitiveness but will also have a positive impact on the national economy, contributing significantly to the development of trade and tourism.”