Istanbul New Airport

Countdown Sign at IGA office (2014)

I joined IGA, the company behind the Istanbul New Airport Project, as one of its first employees back in 2014. Then the project land was full of mining lakes, hills, and beautiful trees. When I first heard the targeted inauguration date, 29th of October 2017, I told my colleagues that this was simply impossible.

Before IGA, I worked for Abu Dhabi Airports Co. (ADAC) and aware of tricks and possible delays in an airport/terminal construction project. I am a marketing and communication professional, not an engineer or developer, but there is /was common sense. Abu Dhabi Airport Midfield Terminal was supposed to be built in 3 years and inaugurated in 2014-15. It is still not operational.

Groundbreaking ceremony area (2015)

Back in 2015, I told my colleagues at IGA that President Erdoğan may cut the ribbon as early as 29th of October, 2018, earliest, but probably this would be a soft opening, and realistically the new airport would be fully operational by the first quarter of 2019, ideally by March, with the start of the summer timetable of Turkish Airlines. That was my prediction, and it looks that that was a pretty good one.

TK staff with their new uniforms at Istanbul Airport

Istanbul's new airport was officially inaugurated last Monday, the 29th of October. However, it won't be fully functioning till the end of the year, according to the latest plan announced by DHMI (State Airports Authority) and Turkish Airlines.

Well, one way or another, we have a new, game-changer airport. I read a lot of news and articles about it and believe that the most objective, unbiased one is from CNN with a gallery of pictures and three expert views to let you understand what it means to Turkey and to European and global aviation. Here is the link; CNN Travel.

Last but not least, there was speculation, mostly politically fueled, about its name since the project kicked-off. Finally, we ended up with an exact name; Istanbul Airport.

It has a new website too; http://istanbulhavalimani.aero/en

Good luck, IGA!