Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) has been reportedly negotiating with 12 to 13 Turkish and Chinese banks to ink a deal for a loan between $800 million and $1 billion in financing to construct its facilities at Istanbul's new airport.

Three sources close to the matter told Reuters that five local banks and Chinese banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), are preparing a deal with THY. Two of the sources said the Turkish lenders to provide financing were İşBank, Yapı Kredi, Alternatifbank and Ziraat Katılım.

THY is in talks with five local banks and various Chinese banks, including the ICBC, the sources told Reuters, and is about to ink the deal to finance the transfer of operations to the new Istanbul airport. "İGA only constructs the airport; THY will make investments in buildings, customer sales offices and conveyor belts, and needs financing for them," one of the sources said.

Chinese banks are eager to provide financing, another of the sources said, adding that maturity terms for the loans were between three to five years with a grace period of one year.

Istanbul's third airport, which Turkey says will become the biggest in the world, is slated to open on Oct. 29. A total of 10.25 billion euros ($11.9 billion) have been invested in the airport, which will have an initial passenger capacity of 90 million per year.