Turkey’s Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, checked on the build progress of Istanbul’s third international airport, Istanbul Grand Airport (IGA), earlier this week. He announced that the colossal project is now over 55 percent complete and expected to open officially on Republic Day, October 29th, next year.
According to the Daily Sabah, Yildirim visited the airport with Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin, Turkey’s Transportation, Maritime and Communications Minister Ahmet Arslan, and Istanbul’s Mayor Kadir Topbas. The trip was specifically organised to evaluate ongoing projects in the city, other sites including the July 15th Martyr’s Monument, the television antenna and the high speed and suburban train lines set to make access to Istanbul a breeze in the future.
Istanbul Grand Airport – The largest Airport in the World
This ambitious project on land to the North of the city is set to put Turkey firmly on the aviation map. “Even at the first stage, this is going to be the largest airport in the world” stated Yildirim. “With the opening of the airport [Turkey] will become the meeting point for Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia”. He believes that the airport will bring a new and exciting dimension to regional and global economy.
The airport will initially have one terminal and two runways, two further runways and an additional terminal set to follow. It will run regular flights to 350 destinations globally and be able to handle up to 2,000 flights a day. The airport’s passenger capacity on completion of the first stage next year will be 90 million, rising to 150 million on completion of stage 2.
The IGA will certainly boost employment figures in the city, expected to run on a staff of over 100,000. Currently, over 30,000 construction staff are present at the site working with over 8,000 heavy duty building machines. Yildirim likened the build of the airport to that of a “new city”.
Istanbul Grand Airport signs deal with cargo and service companies worth 250 million euros.
Just yesterday, Reuters reported that deals with 6 major logistics and service companies had been sealed in readiness for the new airport’s opening. PTT, Celebi Hava Servisi, HAVAS, MNG, Sistem Lojistik and Bilin Lojistik are all now on board for an initial 25 year period. They will build depots and buildings at the airport’s “cargo city and ground services campus”.
The IGA is sure to boost economy and real estate interest in Istanbul even further. If you are interested in knowing more about the property in the area, please CONTACT US.
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