Istanbul’s new airport to be fully operational in April
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Turkish authorities have set the full opening of Istanbul’s new airport, Istanbul Airport (ISL), for next month and the relocation of operations and equipment from Atatürk International Airport (IST) to happen between April 5 to April 7.
IGA, the consortium that won the concession to build and manage Istanbul’s mega-airport for 25 years, and Turkish Airlines, IST’s largest operator accounting for almost 80 percent of the airport’s traffic, labelled the transfer of operations as the “Great Move”.
The changeover to Istanbul Airport (ISL) will involve 1,800 staff and see approximately 47,300 tons of equipment moved by road from Atatürk Airport to Istanbul Airport.
Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Ayci described the change of airports as “the biggest move of the aviation history”.
Turkish Airlines has advised that Atatürk Airport and Istanbul Airport will close for all scheduled passenger flights between 2 a.m. and 2 p.m. on April 6. Due to the move of its main hub, Turkish Airlines has cancelled several flights between April 5 and April 20.
Atatürk Airport, which will remain open for cargo and VIP passenger flights, will adopt the ISL code. The last scheduled flight carrying passengers from Atatürk Airport will be Turkish Airlines’ service to Singapore.
The official inauguration of the new airport, located north of Istanbul on the European side of the city—like Atatürk International Airport— took place on the planned date of October 29, 2018, the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic.
