The new international terminal building at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport is finished in record time, as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan joins the opening ceremony on Oct. 31. With the extension, undertaken by a consortium led by Turkey’s Limak Holding, the airport willt be able to handle 20 million passengers a year
Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, the smaller of the city’s two main airports, will have the capacity to serve 20 million passengers a year by 2012 following the opening of a new international terminal building.
The airport’s new terminal, along with additional buildings, was opened with a ceremony on Oct. 31 that was attended by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The construction, which began on May 3 under the partnership of Turkish, Malaysian and Indian companies, finished a year earlier than expected.
Finished in record time
"The airport had 4 million passengers when we offered a bid," said Nihat Özdemir, chairman of Limak Holding, which bid 2.28 billion euros, including value added tax, to operate the airport in July 2007 with GMR Infrastructure and Malaysia Airports Holdings. "Today its capacity has reached 6.1 million. The project’s term was normally 30 months but we resolved to finish it within 18 months. Today, we have finished it a year early, which is a world record. Passenger numbers are expected to rise to 8.5 million by 2010."
A second runway will be built at the airport on the Asian side of the city within three years, Özdemir said, adding that this will enable the target for 25 million passengers. "The capacity can easily rise to 50 million people in the future.
"Sabiha Gökçen will also expand its connections as of Nov. 9 with the launch of Turkish Airlines’ international flights from the airport, he said.
"We expect an increase of 15 percent in the numbers of passengers at Sabiha Gökçen next year," said G.M. Rao, chairman of GMR Infrastructure, the Indian partner of Limak Holding. "Istanbul Atatürk Airport is already overloaded. We see the future at Sabiha Gökçen."
Noting that doing business in Turkey is a privilege, Rao said: "Three hands coming together beat a record in Turkey. We would like to invest also in other fields, particularly the energy sector in Turkey."
Dr. Aris Bin Othman from the Malaysian partner Tan Sri Datuk said: "Both Malaysia and Turkey have a great potential. Increasing flights from both countries is reasonable. Malaysia Airlines has decided to fly to Turkey three times a day."
Around 7,000 people worked on the construction of the new terminal, which covers 320,000 square meters at the airport. The completed units include new domestic and international terminals, a multistory car park with a capacity for 4,718 vehicles and 72 buses, a 128-room airport hotel, a VIP building and a CIP division.
The terminal building includes 112 check-in and 24 self check-in counters, an 8,000 square meter food court and 5,000 square meters of duty free shops. The airport will be able to simultaneously serve eight largeand 16 medium-body airplanes.
Gökhan Buğday, chief executive officer of Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport, said that Turkey’s biggest airport hotel with 328 rooms will soon be opened.
According to the annual statistics of the General Directorate of Airport Authorities, Istanbul Atatürk Airport carried 28.55 million while Sabiha Gökçen carried 4.28 million passengers İn 2008.
TERMINAL: Around 7,000 people worked on the construction of the new terminal, which covers 320,000 square meters. The completed units include new domestic and international terminals, a multistory car park and a 128-room airport hotel.