An American magazine honored Istanbul Airport with 5 awards in December 2023.
The airport has connections to 315 destinations, making it the best airport in the world. It was named “Airport of the Year” for the 3rd time in a row.
Istanbul Airport was deemed worthy of awards in 5 different categories as a result of the votes of the readers of the US-based travel magazine Global Traveler: “Best Airport”, “Best Airport in Europe”, “Airport Offering the Most good shopping’, ‘The airport with the best food and beverage area’ and ‘The airport with the best duty-free shopping in Europe’.
Istanbul’s mega airport aims to increase the number of passengers it handles from 76 million last year to 85 million in 2024, while increasing its investment to 657 million euros.
The biggest part of the investment went to the construction of new tracks, noted Selahattin Bilgen, acting CEO of İGA Istanbul. He emphasized that they have allocated more than 330 million euros for two new runways.
Bilgen noted that for the first time in Europe, a new flight system, used only in the US, was introduced at Istanbul Airport, through which it is possible for three planes to take off from the airport’s runways in parallel.
“We aim to operate with the highest efficiency and capacity after the United States. This increase in air traffic capacity will be instrumental in helping our airport exceed the 150 million passenger targets in its original contract and reach 200 million passengers without the construction of an additional runway after Phase 5.”
A 15 percent increase in flight traffic at the airport is expected to about 540,000 aircraft in 2024, he added.
The airport has increased its list of airlines to 101 in 2023. “We have signed contracts and will receive 11 more airlines at Istanbul Airport this year,” Bilgen noted at a press conference where he revealed the company’s plans and goals for 2024.
“To date, Istanbul Airport has connections to 315 destinations, making us the best airport in the world.”
Investments in the airport exceeded €160 million last year and will reach €656.5 million in 2024.
Illustrative Photo by Kürşat Kuzu: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-concrete-building-under-the-blue-sky-8271684/
