New Istanbul Airport set to be fully operational in March

Atatürk Airport will close to scheduled passenger flights, although freighters will continue operating there for much of the rest of 2019.

What promises to become the world’s biggest airport, the new Istanbul Airport, will become fully operational from 3 March.

The airport had an official opening on 29 October 2018 but has operated since then on a highly restricted initial basis, hosting just a handful of weekly flights from home carrier Turkish Airlines. But from 3 March, the airport “will become fully operational, replacing the current Istanbul Atatürk Airport, which will be closed for scheduled passenger flights”, said Kadri Samsunlu, CEO of İGA Airport Operations.

However, Turkish Cargo’s and other operators’ freighter flights are set to remain at Atatürk for most of 2019, with the companies operating split cargo operations for around a year, trucking cargo between the two airports, because of delays in completing some of the new airport’s cargo facilities. Lloyd’s Loading List understands that the new cargo terminals could not be completed in time due to the late delivery of the land by the construction company.

The ambitious airport project promises to become the largest in the world, with an initial capacity to serve 90 million people that could be expanded to 200 million once all phases are completed. The new airport’s cargo handling capacity is expected to be around 6 million tonnes annually, including 4 million tonnes of capacity for home carrier Turkish Cargo.

Turkish Cargo’s Mega Hub will cover an area of 165,000 sqm, with a capacity of 2 million tonnes per year available at the end of first phase construction, rising to 4 million tonnes per year with the completion of second phase. The company has designed it with the capability to handle various differentiated services, with “diversified special cargo areas and more quality and lean processes for the special product groups”. Turkish Cargo said the new Mega Hub will be the first air cargo terminal in which artificial intelligence is integrated into the operational processes and its automated handling systems.

As Istanbul Airport builds towards becoming fully operational, Turkish Airlines said it is adding further international routes to the airport’s network, including Moscow, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, Ashgabat, Tbilisi, Cyprus, Kuwait and Baku, along with domestic routes including Ankara, Izmir, Antalya, Adana, Trabzon, Gaziantep, Diyarbakır, Kayseri and Hatay. As a result, Istanbul Airport now has a total of 18 domestic and international destinations.

Source: lloyd´s