More than 13,000 from 16 countries working at Istanbul’s new airport jobsite

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

The construction of Istanbul’s new airport, which is being billed as the world’s largest, is taking place 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with more than 13,000 workers from 16 countries.

Anadolu Agency photographed Istanbul’s third airport – after Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen – now under construction in the northwestern part of the city in the European part of Istanbul.    
  
The first stage of the project is expected to be open by 2018.      

The project is seen as one of the world’s largest in terms of the site and the number of workers.    
 
The first two-and-a-half years of the project – set to include shopping malls, hotels, and social and religious facilities – carry a price tag of some 6 billion euros.      

The airport, which has been the subject of controversy due to the destruction of Istanbul’s last forests to make way for its construction, will have connections to the metro, the high-speed train, and bus service.
      
The project’s infrastructure and superstructure work has been carried out in different zones simultaneously due to deadlines. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said last October that once the new airport is completed, it will be one of the largest in the world in terms of passenger capacity.