Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 11
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
Testing of baggage handling system has started in Istanbul’s third airport, Yusuf Akcayoglu, head of Istanbul New Airport, said, the country’s media reported Dec. 11.
He said that the new baggage handling system will make it possible to receive 30,000 units of baggage within one hour.
A system that reduces the risk of losing passengers’ baggage has also been developed in the new airport, Akcayoglu said.
The third airport is being built near the Lake Terkos in northern Istanbul. The first phase of the airport will be commissioned on Oct. 29, 2018. After commissioning, the number of flight destinations in Turkey will increase from 282 to 350. The new airport will annually serve about 200 million passengers.
Meanwhile, the construction of the first runway of the new airport continues. According to the airport’s construction project, the second runway will be 4.1 kilometers long and 60 meters wide.
Currently, construction and assembling work is underway to build 28 bridges and a hydrometeorological tower at the airport. More than 31,000 employees are involved in construction. About 300 passenger and service elevators will be installed at Istanbul’s third airport.
Earlier, a source in the Turkish Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications told Trend that the construction of the airport will cost 10 billion Turkish liras ($2.6 billion as of Dec. 11).
Turkey's Ziraat Bankasi allocated 1.54 billion euros for the airport's construction, while Halkbank and Vakifbank - 1 billion euros, Denizbank - 500 million euros, Garanti and Finansbank - 300 million euros each.
The first airport in Turkey was built in 1912 and was used for military purposes.
For the first time the Istanbul airport was opened for international flights in 1953 and in 1985 it was renamed in honor of founder of the Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
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