Istanbul New Airport: Enabling a new global aviation connectivity era for Turkey
Istanbul is one of the biggest aviation hubs in a geographic region spreading across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The new Istanbul airport is projected to handle 150 million passengers every year and is set have a number of firsts. Located 22 miles from Istanbul on the Black sea coast, the airport will have 6 runways and is expected to serve 90 million passengers in a year when completed in 2028.
All scheduled commercial passenger flights were transferred from Atatürk Airport to Istanbul Airport on 6 April 2019, following the closure of Atatürk Airport for scheduled passenger flights. The IATA airport code IST was also transferred to the new airport.
It served more than 37 million passengers in 2021, making it the busiest airport in Europe and 13th-busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic and, by serving more than 27 million international passengers, the 2nd-busiest airport in the world in terms of international passenger traffic.
Problems relating to less space at Atatürk Airport made it difficult to build an additional runway. This limited the growth of the airport as well as its city. As a result of this, the Turkish Airport Authority was unable to let charter flights, extra cargo, etc., be available at Atatürk Airport. This increased the issues of congestion relating to air traffic. Hence, the decision to build another airport was taken. This airport aimed to function for Istanbul.
The aircraft of Turkish Airlines was shifted to Sabiha Gökçen Airport as not much space was available for parking at Atatürk Airport. Sabiha Gökçen Airport was found to have reached its maximum capacity for the terminal. This terminal could serve 25 million passengers. In addition, in 2015, it had already served flyers equivalent to a number as big as 28 million. This was observed when the growth rate of traffic was at an average of 20 percent in one year, 2013 onward.
Atatürk Airport was one of the busiest airports in Europe. Since 2013, it has ranked among the five busiest airports in Europe by passenger traffic. In 2017, the two Istanbul airports handled over 100 million passengers.[8] In terms of area airports, the six London-area airports serve more than 150 million passengers a year, while the three Paris-area airports serve around 100 million passengers a year.
It was decided to construct the new airport at the intersection of roads to Arnavutköy, Göktürk, and Çatalca, north of central Istanbul and between the Black Sea coast towns of Yeniköy , Tayakadın and Akpınar. The area is a 7,600-hectare (19,000-acre) region near Lake Terkos. Some 6,172 hectares (15,250 acres) of this area was state-owned forest. The distance between Istanbul Airport and Atatürk Airport is approximately 35 km (22 mi). The area encompassed old open-pit coal mines, which were later filled with soil.
According to the Environmental Impact Assessment (ÇED) report published in April 2013, there were a total of 2,513,341 trees in the area and 657,950 of them would need to be cut indispensably, while 1,855,391 trees would be moved to new places. However, the Ministry of Forest and Water Management claimed the exact number of trees cut and moved would only be revealed after construction was complete.
Providing service in Istanbul, the intersection of Asia, Europe and the Middle East, the Istanbul Airport serves as one of the world’s most significant aviation hubs at a strategic geographical position connecting continents. In the past decade, the international air transportation sector expanded 5.6% worldwide, while Turkey achieved a growth of 14%. Istanbul, which has become one of the world’s most prominent flight and transfer hubs, has the leading role in these growth figures. According to the data of Turkish Ministry of Culture, in 2017, the number of foreign tourists arriving at Istanbul increased 17.8%, compared to the previous year. In 2018, the same increasing rate seems to be continued; therefore the growth trend is expected to be sustained.
According to the report published by Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe), in February 2018, Istanbul Atatürk Airport was among the top 5 airports that increased its number of passengers in Europe with a rate of 17.7%. The second position among the Group 1 category airports in terms of the highest increase in passenger traffic was secured by Sabiha Gökçen, following Istanbul Atatürk, with an increase of 15.5%.
According to the 2018 Airport Industry Connectivity Report of ACI, Istanbul Atatürk Airport ranked the 5th among the European airports in terms of direct connectivity and flight volume. Furthermore, the report in question lists Atatürk Airport in the 4th position among both the top performers in direct connectivity and in terms of the best hub connectivity in Europe over the last decade.
The Istanbul Airport strengthens Istanbul, the center of a vast geography from the East to the West, with its extremely high capacity, various kinds of facilities and sound infrastructure opportunities. Having a strategic location considering the transfer routes, Istanbul acts as an attractive hub for transit flights between the USA and Europe, as well as the Middle East, Central Asia and North India.
Today, the Istanbul Airport launches flights to a total of 146 destinations at various continents within 3 hours connecting 120+ countries, 60+ capital cities, 250+ international and 50 domestic destinations. When the airport is put into operation in full capacity, the number of flight destinations will exceed 350.
Kadri Samsunlu, the CEO of iGA Istanbul Airport, has been elected as a member of the Board of Directors for ACI World, an umbrella organization for the sub-councils representing five continents in the world aviation sector. iGA Istanbul Airport has received two awards from ACI Europe for its achievements in HR policies and sustainability projects.
At the ACI Europe General Assembly, organised between 22 and 24 June in Rome, Italy, it was announced that Kadri Samsunlu, CEO of iGA Istanbul Airport, had been elected as an Executive Board Member for ACI World. Airports Council International (ACI World) has a total of 717 members operating in 185 countries and regions, including 1,950 airports.
ACI World, which carries out policy-making, training, and research and development activities for the development of the industry and the progress of aviation, is one of the most important global umbrella organisations in the world aviation sector. The executive board members, elected from among the 717 members, represent their countries on the ACI World Board of Directors and are responsible for the execution of the decisions made regarding the aviation industry.
CEO of iGA, Kadri Samsunlu, joins the ACI World Board of Directors
Kadri Samsunlu, CEO of the iGA Istanbul Airport, expressed that he was proud to represent the Turkish aviation industry at ACI World, one of the most important organisations of the aviation industry in the world, and he said, “ACI World has entrusted us with a very important duty. This duty brings with it a tremendous responsibility. Last year, I was elected to the Board of Directors of ACI Europe. This year, I have learned that I will serve on the Board of Directors of ACI World. During his tenure as a member of the Board of Directors of ACI World, strengthening the relations between ACI and the Turkish aviation sector at each level and striving to create the highest value for all stakeholders through sustainable growth will be among our priority targets.”
Referring to the election of Samsunlu to the ACI World board of directors, ACI World General Director, Luis Felipe de Oliveira, said, “We are pleased that Mr. Kadri Samsunlu, CEO of İGA Istanbul Airport, has joined the ACI World Board of Directors, which consists of 28 representatives elected by regional ACI councils. As the CEO of a leading global hub, Mr. Samsunlu’s rich experiences and insights will undoubtedly benefit both our members and the global airport industry. We look forward to the start of his term on the ACI World Board of Directors.”
Terminal 1 is currently under construction and the use of a slatted, blue-reflecting roof and a vaulted ceiling combine to create a very exciting space inside Terminal 1. When complete, there is no doubt whatsoever it will be the number one airport in the world in every sense of the word.
source : beautifullife.info _ en.wikipedia.org _ www.istairport.com _ centreforaviation.com _ istanbul-international
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