Istanbul New Airport on track for October launch
Airport will serve 90mn passengers per year and 100 airlines
The Istanbul New Airport (INA), which is being built at a cost of $12.3bn on the outskirts of Istanbul is on track to open on October 29 this year. Construction work is said to be 80% complete and the airport recently achieved a milestone by demonstrating functioning lights on the first of its three runways.
The airport is being commissioned to handle 90m passengers per year and will feature three independent, parallel runways, taxiways, a terminal building, air traffic control tower, communication and weather systems. Other utilities are also being built on-site.
Once completed, Istanbul New Airport is expected to become the world’s new passenger and cargo aviation hub, serving 100 airlines and reaching 350 destinations.
“The first runway at INA is now ready for takeoff and landing. For the first time, runway number one, which is 3,750m long and 60m wide, has been lit up,” explained Yusuf Akçayoglu, CEO of IGA Airports Construction.
IGA is responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project and is also the new airport’s operator.
The new airport is said to have the ‘world’s biggest and most sophisticated Airfield Ground Lighting’ at its first runway. It features some 34,183 LED lights, while intelligent lighting makes the visual guiding process easier and improves situational surveillance and aircraft tracking systems. These systems are designed to allow optimised aircraft routing to and from the gates, a more efficient traffic flow and an increase in safety.
Akçayoglu said IGA was working day and night on the project, saying, “This will put Turkey’s stamp on the history of aviation. We have recently finished the baggage system which constitutes our airport’s core. And now we have made runway number one ready for landing with all the required equipment and in compliance with the relevant global standards. We are looking forward to delivering Istanbul New Airport in its entirety in October.”
