With work progressing at full speed, 94 percent of the construction of Istanbul's new airport has been completed and a temporary operation permission request has been sent to the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMİ), reports said Monday.
The first phase of the city's third airport is expected to be fully completed on Oct. 29 when it will officially start operating.
Istanbul's new airport is 94 percent complete and ready to start serving local and international travelers on October 29 https://t.co/M4NvDiKdsa pic.twitter.com/oVWehOfI8H
— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) August 6, 2018
The first stage of the new airport, which has taken 42 months to complete, will serve 90 million passengers annually. It will accommodate 3,500 takeoffs and landings per day.
Moreover, the airport will have 100,000 square meters of living space, a 25,000-capacity parking area, 143 boarding bridges, a 42-kilometer baggage system and cargo capacity for 5.5 million tons of freight.
Planned as the largest airport in the world, it will have a 150 million annual passenger capacity once the last expansion stage is complete, but could eventually be expanded to handle 200 million annual passengers.