Istanbul's Atatürk Airport will be shut down: THY head

Hamdİ Topçu, CEO of Turkish Airlines (THY), has said that Istanbul's Atatürk International Airport (IST) will be shut down completely as the ongoing first phase of the third airport construction is being completed and the new airport opens for service. Speaking at the northern province of Kastamonu, Topçu said that Turkey's flag carrier aims to carry 63 million passengers in 2015. He added that Ordu-Giresun, and Hakkari domestic routes and San Francisco, Abuja, Luanda, Bari, Taipei, Porto and Manila international routes will enter into service.Topçu said that THY's sales revenues increased by 28.7 percent compared to the previous year and reached $9.64 billion. He also said that THY operates 45 domestic and 219 international routes worldwide, and plans to reach a 293-strong fleet by the end of 2015, which would include 214 narrow-bodied, 68 wide-bodied and 11 cargo aircraft. Regarding the fate of Istanbul's main international gateway, he said "Atatürk Airport is getting inadequate. It is a disadvantage as Turkey has an aim to export to $500 billion. As the same airspace will be used, Atatürk Airport will be shut down.