According to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation under the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the number of aircraft in Türkiye's airline fleets rose to 846 in the first half of the year, while total seat capacity reached 166,000.
Türkiye ranked fifth among European countries under the Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) program. During the same period, following eight international negotiations with Canada, Türkiye secured 22 additional flight frequencies and the right to operate unlimited cargo flights.
111 million passengers traveled
The total number of passengers reached 111 million from January through June. Of these passengers, 50 million traveled on domestic routes and 61 million on international routes.
The amount of cargo transported during the same period was approximately 2.5 million metric tons. Of this cargo, 441,000 metric tons were carried on domestic routes and approximately 2.1 million metric tons on international routes.
Distribution of civil aviation operators
At the end of the first half of the year, civil aviation records listed 14 airlines, 49 air taxi operators, 101 general aviation operators, 72 hot-air balloon operators and 13 ultralight aircraft operators.
According to the records, the sector also had 165 maintenance facilities, 48 ground services companies and 15 runways. A total of 259 aircraft operated in air taxi services, 632 in general aviation activities, 528 in hot-air balloon operations and 35 in ultralight aircraft operations.
Flight agreements and inspections
The number of countries with which Türkiye has an air transport agreement rose to 175. A total of 838 inspections were conducted in civil aviation during the first half of the year in the areas of airworthiness, flight operations, airports, air navigation systems and aviation security.
Of these inspections, 287 concerned airworthiness, 334 flight operations, 57 airports, 37 air navigation systems and 23 aviation security. In addition, 33 SAFA inspections and 19 National Aircraft Safety Assessment (SANA) inspections were conducted.
During the second half of the year, inspection and surveillance activities aimed at strengthening safety, security, quality and airworthiness standards in Turkish civil aviation are planned to continue.
The scope of the continuous monitoring program for aircraft maintenance organizations, authorized agents and flight suppliers is expected to be expanded. The security agenda also includes three airport security inspections, three covert aviation security tests and 15 cybersecurity inspections.
