First flight arrives at world’s third airport constructed at sea

Transport, Maritime and Communication Minister Lütfi Elvan went to Ordu-Giresun airport by private plane on Friday to examine final work on the airport, which is scheduled to come into service in the last week of March. Following on-site examinations, Elvan delivered a press conference at the construction site and said he was proud of the project, which is the third airport in the world to have been constructed at sea. The airport, which was first promised by then Minister of Public Works Arif Hikmet Onat in 1964 to be commonly used by the cities of Ordu and Giresun, has seen eight presidents, 25 prime ministers, 41 transportation ministers and 35 public works ministers over the past 50 years.

Presenting the technical specifications of the airport, Elvan said that the airport is protected by a 7,350-meter-long and 7.40-meter-high breakwater. Saying that this breakwater was constructed in two phases and its dimensions were determined by taking all weather conditions into consideration, Elvan pointed out that they planned that the airport would not be at risk for a hundred years.

Moreover, systems to discharge water overflow were also developed, and an area of 2.5-million-square meters was backfilled. The amount of backfilling stones used thus far has exceeded 30 million tons. The backfilling material was determined by taking into consideration its resistance and endurance to seawater and passing all tests and analyses. The runway - 3,000 meters in length - is suitable for the landing of all types of aircraft. The airport has 38,000-square-meters of indoor space, 20,000-square-meters of which is designed as a terminal building to serve 3 million passengers.