Türkiye has inaugurated a new runway of its second-biggest airport, seeking to expand the capacity at the facility that has been facing challenges in coping with the growing air and passenger traffic.

The new runway, the second biggest in the country, is estimated to more than double the traffic capacity at Sabiha Gökçen, the third busiest airport in Türkiye after the landmark Istanbul Airport and Antalya Airport in the southern resort town.

“Sabiha Gökçen Airport plays critical roles in terms of development in business and tourism. We have observed that the airport has been having difficulty meeting the increasing passenger and air traffic,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, indicating the need for infrastructural upgrades.

The airport on Istanbul’s Anatolian side managed some 181,000 flights and served about 25 million passengers in 2021. This figure rose to 31 million in 2022.

The January-November arrivals this year left the whole of 2022 behind, as Sabiha Gökçen reached a record passenger count of 34 million and managed some 208,000 flights.

“We anticipate surpassing 37 million passengers by the end of the year,” Erdoğan told the opening ceremony.”

The decision to construct the second runway was made in 2012. The president said that the project has been implemented with an investment of some $970 million.

“The existing runway has reached its capacity. There are 700-750 flights daily,” Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said. The new runway can accommodate the world’s widest-bodied aircraft for landing.

Source: Sabah