‘2019 was a successful and exciting year - let's make 2020 an even better one,’ CEO of İGA Istanbul Airport

2019 has been an exciting year for us with so many positive things that we have achieved. Having been in full operation since last April, 52 million passengers have been recorded, with 321,902 domestic and international flights taking place since the day full capacity began (6 April 2019 – 31 December 2019). A total of 74 airlines operate scheduled flights at Istanbul Airport of which 11 newcomers departed from the gateway for the first time, including Ethiopian Airlines, Nouvelair, Indigo, Air Albania, Sichuan Airline, China Southern, Tassili Airline, Transavia France, Red Wings, Air Serbia and UR Airline. In addition, Transavia Airlines started its flights in October. Together with the full capacity of Istanbul Airport, airlines from various continents including Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Far East, have doubled the number of available frequencies.

In addition to our sister airport agreements with Beijing Capital International Airport and the recently inaugurated Beijing Daxing International Airport, we signed letters of intent with the Shanghai Airport Authority and Incheon International Airport in South Korea, these agreements allowing us to build a passenger bridge that will pass through the main destinations of the historic Silk Road.

Receiving overwhelming feedback from passengers, we were honoured to receive the Airport of the Year award voted for by the readers of the International Airport Review, seeing us outperform some of the most prestigious airports. For us, this underlines the exceptional performance at Istanbul Airport.

Now, we have to look forward. In the first half of 2020, the third runway at Istanbul Airport will be in operation. This will increase the number of aircraft movements from the current 80 take-offs/landings per hour to 120 take-offs/landings per hour. Slot flexibility will also be improved and taxiing times reduced by up to 50%, enabling Istanbul Airport to operate even more smoothly and offer even more connections without compromising fast handling.

With a surface area of 76.5 million square metres, Istanbul Airport will become one of the largest hubs in the world, with flights to more than 300 destinations and an annual passenger capacity of 200 million after completion of all phases.

Finally, as the world is globally affected with an unprecedented health turmoil of Coronavirus (COVID-19) we work closely with the Ministry of Health in Turkey to meet and exceed the highest standards of health and hygiene for our guests and employees. We have taken every reasonable steps to reduce all safety and health risks at Istanbul Airport. To ensure that all necessary preventive and protective measures are taken with thermal camera surveillance, hand sanitiser points, disinfection of common spaces and awareness-raising training for staff members. Even as Coronavirus negatively affects aviation industry, we believe that we will overcome this challenging time as a world and a country.

Best regards,

H. Kadri Samsunlu

CEO of İGA Istanbul Airport