Passenger traffic of Baku airport grows by 29% in September

Baku airport served 365,000 passengers in September (Photo by Heydar Aliyev International Airport)

Heydar Aliyev International Airport of Azerbaijan capital city Baku enjoys growing passenger traffic attracting new carriers from Russia and the Middle East countries. It served 365,000 passengers in September, showing 29 per cent growth compared to the same period of last year.

Since January through September the airport served 2.5 million passengers. 1.5 million of them have been carried by the country’s flagship carrier AZAL.

During the same period, the airport’s cargo terminals serviced 11.4 million tons of cargo.

According to the airport officials, Istanbul, Moscow, Dubai and Kiev remained the most popular international destinations from Baku taking 38.3 per cent of all international passengers. The list of the most popular destinations in 2016 also included Antalya, Tehran and Tbilisi. The large influx of passengers this year – almost 60,000 – was observed from Iraqi cities: Baghdad, Basra and Najaf.

The airport welcomed several foreign carriers that began operating flights to Azerbaijan In 2016 – Turkish Pegasus, Iraqi Airways, Fly Baghdad, Iranian ATA Airlines, Air Cairo and Russian Komaviatrans. Two more carriers – Russia’s low-cost Pobeda and Mahan Air from Iran will open regular flights to Baku in the winter flight schedule.