Istanbul New Airport: Full Opening Delayed Again

Photo: igairport.com

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Full opening of the Istanbul’s new airport, which aims to become the busiest in the world, has been delayed again. This time until 7 April 2019. Although official opening of the airport took place already last year, in the end of October 2018, the facility is not fully operable yet.

Initially the airport was set to start operating at full capacity in January, then delayed until March. Reportedly, the delays were caused by political and economic issues.

The transfer of operations from the city’s Ataturk Airport is scheduled to begin on 5  April at 3 AM local time. The whole procedure should take 45 hours.

During the move both airports will operate at reduced capacity, some delays or cancellations of flights might appear.

Once fully completed, the $12 billion airport is expected to become world’s largest airport. It is projected to handle up to 90 million passengers by 2021, with further growth plans up to 200 million.