The new terminal building at Diyarbakır Airport, which will allow the southeastern Anatolian region to expand abroad, is slated to open next week. The terminal building was completed in two years and cost TL 300 million ($103.5 million). General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMİ) General Manager Serdar Hüseyin Yıldırım said with the exception of the hajj season, Diyarbakır Airport has so far failed to offer international flights due to inadequate terminal building and aprons.
With the new terminal building, the airport will be able to offer international flights, Yıldırım said, adding that the airport, which currently accommodates 1.8 million passengers per year, will reach an annual capacity of 5 million passengers once the new terminal building opens.
According to Yıldırım, this major infrastructural service will help Diyarbakır, whose historic fortifications are listed on UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage List, and the entirety of the southeastern Anatolian region will develop in terms of its economy and tourism. When conditions improve in neighboring countries, the airport will be a hub that will render services to both the region and neighboring countries, Yıldırım stressed, adding: "Thanks to this investment, the number of tourists visiting the region will increase. The region will flourish in terms of both its economy and tourism." Constructed on a 95,000-square-meter area, the new terminal building will have six jet ways, a parking garage with 1,038-car-capacity, a maintenance facility and a power and thermal center. "A very nice and thoroughly designed project has emerged," Yıldırım said. The terminal building will allow 10 planes to operate simultaneously.
