New Istanbul Airport opened, planned to be world’s largest

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened Istanbul’s new international airport, which his government says will eventually become the world’s largest, with great fanfare yesterday. “I hope that Istanbul Airport will benefit our region and the world,” Erdogan said at the lavish opening ceremony featuring numerous world leaders. The inauguration is largely symbolic as the airport will not be fully open until the end of the year.

Erdogan has championed the 10.5 billion euro ($12 billion) project in his bid to make Istanbul a global travel hub linking Europe, Asia and Africa and turn flag carrier Turkish Airlines into an aviation giant. However the airport will only offer flights to five destinations until an expanded opening on December 29, from when it is expected to handle up to 90 million passengers a year, rising to 200 million when all facilities are completed in 2028.

That would be nearly double the number of passengers moving through the world’s current busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson in the US city of Atlanta. The first flight from the as-yet unnamed airport will be to Ankara on Thursday. The inauguration for the new facility, which will replace Istanbul’s ageing Ataturk Airport, takes place on the 95th anniversary of modern Turkey’s founding by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.