Tender for the third airport to be launched in one week: Minister

ANKARA – Reuters

Turkish Airlines plane arrives at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul November 30, 2012. REUTERS photo

The tender for a third airport in Istanbul, which is planned to have an initial capacity for 90 million passengers per year, extending eventually to 150 million passengers, will be launched in one week time, Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yıldırım said Jan. 17.

“I think we will announce [the tender for the third airport] in one week,” Yıldırım said at an Istanbul meeting on state-run postal services.

The project will be Turkey’s largest public-private sector operation, he noted.

The country’s economy administration is working on fine tuning the project, and an announcement in the Official Gazette may be published by the middle of the next week, sources told Reuters.

Foreign firms are looking for local partners for the project, separate sources had earier said.