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ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The last commercial passenger flight took off on Saturday from Ataturk Airport in Istanbul and truck convoys have been carrying thousands of tons of equipment across the city to a new airport giant that Turkey plans to create as the world's leading airport.
The mammoth transfer between the two platforms, described by the Turkish authorities as unprecedented in terms of scale and speed, was already largely completed a little over 24 hours after its start, before the start. Friday dawn.
The new Istanbul airport, which will cost about $ 8 billion and will be one of the many mega-projects sponsored by President Tayyip Erdogan, will initially accommodate 90 million passengers a year, a capacity close to the highest. large airport capacity in the world.
The authorities plan to expand this capacity to 200 million.
During the night, hundreds of trucks were carrying equipment such as aircraft tugs and security sensors from Ataturk, on the shores of the Sea of Marmara, 30 km north of the new airport at the edge. of the Black Sea.
On Saturday, Turkish Airlines director Yahya Ustun said more than 90 percent of the work was completed on Saturday morning.
Overnight, Ataturk's last commercial flight took off for Singapore, which Transport Minister Mehmet Turhan said was historic.
"I am happy to send you as the last commercial passengers of Ataturk airport," he said a few moments before the flight took off at 2:44 (23:44 GMT). "When you return, you will land at Istanbul Airport, monument of victory, the largest airport in the world."
The new airport, officially open almost six months ago but managing less than 20 flights a day, inaugurated its new chapter on Saturday afternoon with a domestic flight taking off for Ankara, the capital.
Report by Yesim Dikmen; Edited by Dominic Evans and David Holmes
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