ANKARA
Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim said that airway transportation in Turkey would reach a record high level in 2013.
The number of airway passengers, which had been 36 million in 2002, reached 131 million in the end of 2012, Yildirim told AA on Saturday.
A total of 22.7 million people travelled via airway in the first quarter of 2012, and this figure rose 17.1 percent to 26.7 million in the first quarter of 2013, he said.
Noting that air traffic also rose, Yildirim said that the number of planes at airports increased 7.7 percent to 294,058 in the first quarter of 2013 when compared to the first quarter of 2012.
Earlier in the day, General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMİ) stated that the number of planes which landed in and took off airports in Turkey increased 7.5 percent to 51,309 in domestic lines, and increased 10.7 percent to 33,237 in international lines in March 2013 when compared to March 2012.
