Istanbul Airport (IST) — Flights, Punctuality & Cancellations in 2021
We continue the most detailed airport analysis with Turkey’s Istanbul Airport (IST). Istanbul Airport is one of the world’s biggest and fastest-growing airports and Turkish Airlines’ home base. Therefore, we analyzed its performance in 2021: Flight rankings, punctuality reports, and cancellation rates. Moreover, we benchmarked the airport’s flight performance against regional averages. Here’s what’s contained in detail:
Performance Overview
Flight Volume Analysis
On-Time Performance
Cancellations
Pre-COVID Comparison
Istanbul Airport — Performance Overview
We start our analysis with the essential numbers regarding flight volume, pre-COVID comparison, punctuality, and cancellations. Then, however, we will provide more details about each of the figures in the sub-chapters below.
Flight Volume & Pre-COVID Comparison
From February to July 2021, Istanbul Airport operated more than 55,000 flights. On average, the airport handled 9,000 flights monthly. However, as we will see below, the volume distributes quite volatile across the months. Overall, compared to the same period in 2019, Istanbul Airport operated 51.5% of the flight volume.
On-Time Performance & Cancellations
From February to July, Istanbul Airport achieved a solid departure on-time performance of 90.7%. Departure on-time performance counts all flights that depart at the airport +/-15 minutes to their scheduled departure time. At the same time, 2.5% of scheduled flights at Istanbul Airport were canceled.
Istanbul Airport – Flight Volume Analysis
Let’s take a deeper look at the flight volume at Istanbul’s main airport from February to July 2021. From February to May, the airport did not see substantial development. On the contrary, the flight volume hovered 6,500 and 8,000 monthly flights. However, in June, the volume increased sharply by more than 30% exceeding 10,000 monthly flights. On top of that, the airport added another 4,000 flights in July, reflecting a month-on-month growth rate of 38%
Detailed Data
In case you want to have a look at the detailed data, here we go:
| Month | No. Flights | vs. prev. Month |
|---|---|---|
| February | 6,405 | |
| March | 7,979 | 23.7%  |
| April | 8,347 | 4.6% |
| May | 7,646 | 8.4%  |
| June | 10,009 | 30.9% |
| July | 13,854 | 38.4% |
| Avg. ’21 | 54,285 |
Istanbul Airport – On-Time Performance
During the entire analyzed period, Istanbul Airport delivered a solid on-time performance. Except for February and July, the airport operated at a punctuality level above 90%. Moreover, and although IST is one of Europe’s biggest airports, its on-time performance has been constantly above the EMEA average. For example, from February to May, Istanbul on average was 5pp above the EMEA average. On top of that, in June and July, IST’s on-time performance was ~6pp. respectively ~12pp better than the EMEA average.
Detailed Data
In case you want to have a look at the detailed data, here we go:
| Month | IST | EMEA Average |
|---|---|---|
| February | 87.1% | 82.6% |
| March | 92.2% | 87.2% |
| April | 92.0% | 87.1% |
| May | 92.9% | 86.6% |
| June | 91.3% | 94.9% |
| July | 88.6% | 76.9% |
| Avg. ’21 | 90.7% | 85.9% |
Istanbul Airport – Cancellations
Contrary to its fantastic on-time performance, Istanbul Airport delivered weaker results in terms of cancellations. On average, 2.5% of the scheduled flights were canceled — that’s 0.7pp more than the EMEA average. However, April to June seems to be the months where the airport encountered some problems. During that time, IST’s cancellation rate even exceeded 3%. On the other hand, Istanbul’s cancellation rates were similar to the EMEA average when looking at February and March. Moreover, in July, Istanbul performed better than the EMEA average.
Detailed Data
In case you want to have a look at the detailed data, here we go:
| Month | IST | EMEA Average |
|---|---|---|
| February | 2.6% | 2.6% |
| March | 1.6% | 1.6% |
| April | 3.4% | 2.0% |
| May | 3.6% | 1.8% |
| June | 2.6% | 1.1% |
| July | 1.1% | 1.6% |
| Avg. ’21 | 2.5% | 1.8% |
Istanbul Airport – Pre-COVID Comparison
To provide more context, we put Istanbul’s flight figures in relation to pre-COVID volume. Therefore we benchmark 2021 data with 2019. Between February and July, Istanbul Airport operated on average 8,000 fewer flights in 2021. However, here’s the important figure: IST managed to reduce the gap to pre-COVID volume from 54% to 29% from February to July. As a result, in July, Istanbul Airport operated almost 72% of the traffic at the same time in 2019.
Detailed Data
In case you want to have look at the detailed data, here we go:
| Month | Flights 2021 | Flights 2019 | ’21 vs. ’19 (abs) | ’21 vs. ’19 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | 6,450 | 15,490 | 9,040 | 58% |
| March | 7,979 | 17,058 | 9,079 | 54% |
| April | 8,347 | 16,050 | 7,703 | 48% |
| May | 7,646 | 17,793 | 10,147 | 57% |
| June | 10,009 | 18,497 | 8,488 | 46% |
| July | 13,854 | 19,310 | 5,456 | 28% |
| Average | 9,047 | 17,366 | 8,318 | 48.5% |
Used Data
The shown information is based on OAG data and internal data sources. Whenever stated, EMEA refers to airlines based in Europe, the Middle East, or Africa.
What Do You Think?
We’re always happy to get your feedback. Just leave a comment below or get in touch with the author on social media.
