Turkish Airlines... NEW Istanbul airport

The first phase of Turkish Airlines’ new Istanbul airport was introduced on 29 October 2018 with the first scheduled flight taking place on 31 October 2018. Which was operated by the largest aircraft used by the flag-carrier, a Turkish Airlines Boeing 777-300.

All current operations at Istanbul Airport (IST) are set to move to the new airport on 1 January 2019. When completed the airport is set to have a total of 6 runaways, 5 piers, 71 passenger boarding bridges and 200 gates. With phase one already introduced and set to have 90 million passengers at full capacity the airport would be the largest airport in the world - as it will be able to handle 150 to 200 million passengers a year!

The Airport also has a geographical advantage in the sense that there is a 60% share of air routes that pass over Turkey in global air traffic, with a flight range of 200 + international destinations, 60 + capitals and 40% of global international traffic.

At the new airport, at least 80% passengers will be able to board from the bridge with self-service check in counters for both Economy and Business Class as well as separate security and passport control channels.