İSTANBUL AIRPORT WILL MAKE TURKEY A TRANSPORT BASE

In addition to the advantages of its geopolitical location, as well as its deep-rooted historical and cultural values, Turkey is frequently being mentioned on the global arena with the mega projects it has commissioned in recent years. One of them is the Istanbul Airport project, which is located in an covering Imrahor, Tayakadin, Yenikoy, Agacli, Akpinar and Ihsaniyevillages 35  kilometers away from the city center on the European side of Istanbul. In this respect, it is possible to say that the country’s economy which is integrated with the developments in air transport as well as among the driving forces in the growth of Turkey has made progress in this area and is gaining momentum.

THE LARGEST ONE IN THE WORLD IS IN TURKEY

The foundation of Istanbul Airport, the world’s largest airport project was laid on 7 June 2014 with the participation of R.T. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who was Prime Minister at the time. The first phase of the airport which is being built on an area of 76,5 million square meters and comprised of four phases was commissioned for service on the 29th of October 2018 coinciding with the 95th establishment anniversary of the Republic of Turkey. The airport, which has been awarded many international awards with its various features such as its architecture, social responsibility activities and being an environmentalist project without completing the first phase has already attracted attention with its strong technological infrastructure, its own energy generation and its nature friendliness.

ISTANBUL IS BECOMING A TRANSPORT CENTER

While the subject of Istanbul which hosts almost all financial institutions in Turkey maintains its place on the agenda as a global finance center, with the opening of Istanbul Airport the city becomes a candidate to be one of the major transportation hubs in Europe. When all the phases are completed, the airport is ready to be the largest in the world with an average annual capacity of 200 million passengers; currently flights are realized to 146 destinations at a flight distanceof three hours on different  continents. When Istanbul Airport starts to operate at full capacity, there will be more than 350 flight destinations.Therefore,  Istanbul will be a strong transfer point as well as an important transport hub with directflights to dozens of countries. Thus with  places that reflect the cultural mosaic, natural beauty, unique cuisine and ability to host almost every tourism activity, Turkey will become a center of attraction that is easily accessible to foreign tourists. It is also easy to reach the city center thanks to the strong transportation network of the airport. On account of the facilitated international and domestic and intercity transportation, Turkey will also gain momentum in the area of global trade.

ISTANBUL AIRPORT’S CONTRIBUTIONTO NATIONAL ECONOMY

The Istanbul New Airport Economic Impact Analysis Report prepared by the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM) in 2016 presented the contributions that the airport was going to add to Turkey’s economy. According to the report in question, the direct and indirect employment of Istanbul New Airport will be between 194 and 225 thousand in 2025. With approximately 3.8 to 4.4 billion US dollars generated in added value, the contribution to the national revenue of Turkey will increase to the level of 4,2-4,9 percent.

Merve Ay