Istanbul Airport serves over 400,000 people

ISTANBUL

The newly built mega Istanbul Airport has served more than 405,000 passengers to date, Bilal Ekşi, the general manager of the flag carrier Turkish Airlines, has said.

He also noted that the airport hosted a total of 3,214 flights since it opened.

Istanbul Airport, whose first phase was opened on Oct. 29 last year, has the potential to welcome 90 million passengers annually, and following the second phase of construction expected to be completed in 2023, the number will rise to around 200 million.

It will host flights departing to 350 destinations worldwide including countries in Africa once completed.

The airport has 2.5 million tons of annual cargo capacity and will reach 5.5 million tons when all phases are completed.

The transfer of operations from Atatürk Airport to Istanbul Airport will start on April 5 and will be completed on April 7.

After the switch, Atatürk Airport will be closed to scheduled and unscheduled domestic and international commercial passenger flights.