Summary Istanbul Airport is rapidly growing, aiming to reach 100 million passengers annually with plans for 200 million capacity. Turkish Airlines' strong presence and extensive US routes make it unlikely for US carriers to operate flights to Istanbul. Geopolitical tensions and Turkish Airlines' dominance in Istanbul prevent US legacy carriers from serving the city.
Istanbul Airport is ranked the sixth-busiest airport in the world, with flights to destinations worldwide. Yet, no US-based carrier flies there. It seems counter-intuitive that no US airlines would fly there.
After all, US-based airlines operate in the region; for example, Delta and United fly to Greece's Athens and Israel's Tel Aviv airports. The reasons no US airlines fly there are mixed up with politics, code-share agreements, and Turkish Airlines' dominance ( Turkish Airlines offers flights to some 276 destinations - including around 14 destinations in the US). Istanbul Airport: a modern mega-hub Turkey is one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, receiving almost 50 million visitors in 2023.
According to Statista , in 2023, over 1.3 million American tourists visited Turkey, the majority heading for the famed sites of the country's largest city, Istanbul. OAG now ranks Istanbul Airport as the 7th most connected airport in the world.
In 2023, Istanbul Airport handled 76 million passengers (of which 58 million were international passengers). The airport is continuing to grow, and when the last of the.