Scrap planes in Atatürk Airport wait to be sold

ISTANBUL

Five scrap planes parked on the apron of Atatürk Airport, which has now become a prominent venue for holding aviation-related events in the country, await their owners.

Previously four of a total of nine scrap planes were sold and transformed into cafeterias and restaurants.

Atatürk Airport, which once had the highest increase in flight traffic in Europe, is being decorated with projects for the service of citizens with the National Garden and Prof. Dr. Murat Dilmener Emergency Hospital.

Although Atatürk Airport is closed to civilian flights now, it hosts major events with worldwide repercussions, such as TEKNOFEST, from time to time.

Five of the scrap airplanes in the airport apron, which numbered nine in 2021, still remain in the area.

Previously, a tender was held by the General Directorate of Civil Aviation for the foreclosed and scrap aircraft that had completed their flight life. In 2019, investors got attracted to the planes that came to the agenda

After the news in the media, the idle airplanes were sold. The wings and fuselage parts were dismantled and taken away from the airport for transportation. It was also learned from sources that some of the planes were turned into restaurants and cafes.

In the photographs taken by drones, the wings of some airplanes sitting on the apron were seen covered by trees and vines or seriously damaged, while the outer bodies of many of the scrap airplanes had fallen off.

The photos also revealed that the windows and engines of planes were completely dismantled, though some of them still had many electronic components intact.