Lufthansa ‘excited’ for 3rd Istanbul airport

ISTANBUL

Lufthansa Airlines are excited by the possibility using Istanbul’s third airport once constructed, a regional Lufthansa director in charge of Turkish business affairs has said.

The Turkey, Iran and Iraq Director Stefan Löcherbach said that the German airliner expects the new Istanbul new airport to become a flight hub in the region by providing the necessary service to meet the growing demand of flights.

“With the construction of the third airport Istanbul will be competing with other European hubs,” he said, adding that “it currently competes with Europe but at the moment it [Atatürk Airport] is too crowded. The airport doesn’t run smoothly sometimes and passport procedures take too long. Therefore we think we will provide a better service to our customers with the construction of the new airport.”

Istanbul currently houses two airports: Sabiha Gökçen on the Asian side and Atatürk Airport on the European side of the city. 

Atatürk Airport, which is currently responsible for 35 percent of Turkey’s total passengers and airline traffic, is currently working at full capacity.