Turkish airports see 52.3M air passengers in Jan-Aug

Some 52.29 million air passengers -- including transit passengers -- traveled through airports in Turkey in January-August, according to the country's airport authority.

The eight-month figure decreased 62.9% versus the same period last year, the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI) said on Saturday.

The drop stemmed from global coronavirus-related measures.

Domestic passenger numbers shrank 52.3% to 32.27 million, while 19.98 million passengers took international flights, down 72.5%, during the same period.

Turkish airports served 672,408 planes including overflights in the first eight months of this year, down from 1.36 million year-on-year.

The report also said cargo traffic stood at 1.47 million tons in the first eight months of 2020, compared to 2.7 million tons on a yearly basis.

Since originating in China last December, the pandemic has infected millions of people and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives globally.

Measures to stem the novel coronavirus hit several sectors deeply, especially travel, aviation, tourism, and manufacturing.