Istanbul Airport…the best world wide destination
On October 29, 2018, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened the first section of Istanbul Airport on the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic, where since he became the prime minister 16 years ago, the number of airports has doubled from 26 to 56 in Turkey, not to mention that there are 8 more airports which being built at this time so the number of airports will become 64 in the next few years, and with the number of Turkish aircraft increasing from 162 to 506, making Turkey the world’s first in the number of foreign destinations for flights, which reached 316 destinations.
On October 7, 2013, an agreement was reached between the group of founding companies (Limak, Colin, Cengiz, Maba and Qalion) and the Turkish government to build Istanbul Airport, at a construction and operation cost of 26 billion and 140 million euros with value-added tax within 25 years, and thus will grant the Turkish government treasury 176 billion Turkish liras without a single lira out of it,
Istanbul airport will be completed in 4 phases, the first of which was in 2018 and completed in 2023.
In 2014, the preparation, and planning works were completed, where the design team included more than 250 local and foreign architects in various specializations, in addition to more than 500 engineers.
Istanbul airport is being built on an area of 76.5 million square meters with a capacity of 200 million passengers annually.
After its opening, the airport will have many characteristics which are the first of its kind in the field of aviation and airports in terms of size, infrastructure, security and safety systems.
Upon completion of all construction phases, Istanbul airport is expected to include 6 runways with a capacity of up to 500 aircraft at the same time, with 250 air carriers and more than 350 destinations around the world, with a daily number of 3,500 flights, and an indoor and outdoor car garage with a capacity of 70,000 cars.
The airport’s main building has an area of 1.3 million square meters, to be the largest airport building in the world, with an area of 100 thousand square meters in the free zone, 165 bridges for transporting passengers, and a metro network that connects it with the other metro ends around the city.
What distinguishes Istanbul Airport is that it received many international awards before its opening, such as the 2015 European Center for Architecture and Design Award won by the control tower inspired by Islamic and Turkish culture and in the shape of the tulip flower that Istanbul is famous for.
The airport will be a qualitative leap for the Turkish economy, as the airport will contribute 4.9% of the GDP after the completion of its construction work, and will provide 120,000 job opportunities after it’s completed, in addition to 80,000 workers currently working in it in shifts around the clock.
The airport will be linked to the city center with a network of highways and subways that will connect all areas of Istanbul together and to the new airport, in order to provide all amenities and safety for travelers and visitors.
