Baku’s passenger traffic exceeds half a million in first two months of 2018

Azerbaijan’s main gateway continues its high growth trajectory (Baku Airport)

Heydar Aliyev International Airport, which serves Azerbaijan’s capital city Baku, welcomed 545,000 passengers during the first two months of 2018, or 16% up year-on-year.

Azeri national carrier Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) welcomed 222,000 passengers, while the country’s new low-cost airline Buta Airways (an AZAL subsidiary) carried 63,000 in the first two months of the year.

International flights attracted 470,000 passengers (86.2% of all passenger traffic) in January and February.

The latest increases come after an outstanding performance in 2017, when traffic through Azerbaijan’s main gateway surged 23% to a record 4.06 million passengers.

Currently, Baku airport serves 27 airlines flying to 47 destinations, with the top-10 most popular international routes to Istanbul, Moscow, Dubai, Kyiv, Doha, Sharjah, Tbilisi, Baghdad, Tehran, and St. Petersburg. Some 368,000 customers traveled to these destinations in January and February.

Starting from March 2018, Etihad Airways has launched direct scheduled flights from Abu Dhabi to Baku.