By Ugur Aslanhan
ISTANBUL
Istanbul's third airport will host 2,000 flights a day and over 100 million passengers annually via 250 airlines when the first phase of construction is completed in early 2018, said the head of builders, IGA.
Yusuf Akcayoglu, CEO of the IGA consortium, spoke to Anadolu Agency about ongoing construction of Istanbul's third airport on Monday.
"I believe that the new terminal will easily host over 100 million passengers annually when the first phase is completed…because the terminal of Ataturk Airport, approximately one third [the size] of the new terminal, is hosting over 60 million passenger annually," said Akcayoglu.
Remarking on the 1,500-a-day flight record of Ataturk Airport on Sept. 18, the last day of the Eid al-Adha holiday, Akcayoglu said: "After we have finished the first phase of the [third] airport, there will be 2,000 flights daily," he said.
Akcayoglu said 30 percent of the project was already complete and 2.4 billion euros ($2.7 million) of the 6-billion-euro budget for the first phase had been spent.
"There will be flights from Istanbul's new airport to more than 350 destinations around the world. It will make the airport a prominent hub. The new airport will provide services to 250 airlines," he added.
The CEO also said Istanbul's third airport will have Europe’s largest car-parking area and provide 100,000 job opportunities.
Regarding transport links to the new facility, Akcayoglu said recently built highways and linked roads would provide easy transport from the center of Istanbul.
"There will be a high-speed train connection to the airport as well," he added.
*Bahattin Gonultas and Muhammed Ali Gurtas contributed to this report from Ankara.
