Baku airport sees traffic grow over 23% in 2017

Azeri flag carrier AZAL generated 54% of the airport's 2017 traffic (Fyodor Borisov / Transport-photo.com)

Heydar Aliyev International Airport, which serves Azerbaijan’s capital city Baku, reports having seen its traffic increase 23% year-on-year to 4.06 million passengers in 2017. In fact, the 2016 figure stands at 3.26 million, which translates to an almost 25% growth.

A total of 55 airlines operated scheduled and charter flights to Baku in 2017. The largest share of passenger traffic was generated by locally based AZAL, the state-run aviation concern. The flag carrier transported 2.2 million passengers on its flights to and from Baku, or 54% of the total traffic.

The number of transit passengers stood at 114,000.

Several airlines added Baku to their route networks last year, including Air Arabia, Wataniya Airways, Israir Airlines, Mahan Air, Jazeera Airways, IrAero, and Pegas Fly. AZAL’s low-cost subsidiary Buta Airways began operations with Embraer airliners in September, carrying 92,000 passengers by year-end.

The share of international traffic through the airport stood at 85%, with Moscow, Istanbul, Dubai, Kyiv, Tehran, Antalya, Tbilisi, Baghdad, and St. Petersburg topping the list of the most popular destinations. Of all international passengers, 46% traveled with AZAL and Buta Airways.

The airport’s 2016 growth was nowhere near as intensive at just 8.7% year-on-year. The growth rate surged to 31% by mid-2017.