What to Do in Istanbul

Istanbul New Airport: Learn About One of the 2 International Airports in This City

Do you want to learn about Istanbul new airport? If so, you may want to take a look at this blog post.

March 11, 2024 8 min read

In case you want to learn about Istanbul new airport, you may want to keep reading. Because on this blog post, we will be discussing this airport, taking a look at some general info about this place, as well as its history, location and more…

Among international tourists, Istanbul is a very popular city. With over 20 million international tourists visiting the city last year, Istanbul was the most visited city in the world by international visitors in 2023. Of course, there are many great reasons behind the popularity of this amazing city. For one thing, it is a city that is full of interesting historical structures and beautiful natural areas. Beyond this, there are lots of fun activities to do in Istanbul, such as visiting traditional Turkish hamams and exploring the local cuisine.

Basically, Istanbul is a fairly popular city among tourists, and if you are looking for a fun travel experience, it can be an amazing city to visit. In case you are going to be visiting this city, you will arrive at Istanbul through one of its two international airports. As one of these airports is Istanbul Airport, which some may know as Istanbul new airport, and it is the larger one among the two, you may want to learn about this place. If so, keep reading this post, since we will talk about this busy airport in detail.

Istanbul New Airport General Info

On this post, we will talk about Istanbul new airport in detail, taking a look at its history, as well as various stats about it and more… However, on this section, we will keep it light and discuss some of the general info about this airport.

Before this airport, Atatürk Airport was one of the airports in Istanbul used for international flights. With the start of all passenger services in Istanbul Airport in 2019, the passenger services in Atatürk Airport were stopped.

In 2022 Istanbul Airport was opened to all cargo services and today it is an international airport in Istanbul used for both passenger and cargo services. In 2023 alone, the airport served over 76 passengers in total and in the same year, the number of aircraft operations in this airport was more than 425 thousand.

Istanbul New Airport History

As the location of Atatürk Airport didn’t allow it to expand as much as its was needed, a decision to build a new airport in a more suitable spot was made. The construction of Istanbul new airport began in 2014, and its opening ceremony happened in 2018.

In April 2019, the airport was opened for all passenger services and in that year the airport was used by around 52 million passengers in total. Istanbul Airport was then opened for all cargo services in February 2022. In 2023, the cargo tonnage statistics of the airport showed a value of over 2.5 million.

Also Read: How to get to/from the new Istanbul airport/city center

Where is Istanbul New Airport Located?

When talking about airports, one of the topics to talk about can be the location. Many of the airports in the world are built away from city centers. One of the significant reasons behind this is the space required for airports, Since planes are large vehicles and often many of them may be at the airport, airports may require ample amount of area. Having such a spacious place close to city center may not be practical, and this is one of the reasons why airports are often away from city centers. Moreover, as there are usually lots of people and large buildings in city centers, safety can be another reason behind this.

Now that we have talked a little bit about why airports tend to be away from city centers, let’s discuss the location of Istanbul Airport. So, where is Istanbul new airport located? Istanbul Airport is located in the Arnavutköy municipality of Istanbul. The neighborhood where this airport is located is called Tayakadın. In Tayakadın, this airport is located in Terminal Caddesi. Arnavutköy is located in the European side of Istanbul and it has districts such as Eyüp, Başakşehir and Büyükçekmece around it. While it is the 4th largest district of the city by area, it is the 16th least populated district in Istanbul as of March 2024.

Istanbul New Airport Stats

Now that we have checked out some of the general info about this place, learned a bit about its history and where it is located, let’s get into a little bit more detail and talk about some of the stats regarding Istanbul new airport, like how many passangers used this airport in the last years and so on…

Five runways are currently operational at Istanbul Airport. The shortest one among these is 3060 meters long, while two of the runways are 3750 meters long and the remaining two of the runways are 4100 meters long. Four of the concourses in the airport are used for international flights and these are; Concourse A, Concourse B, Concourse D and Concourse F. There are thousands of CCTV cameras in the airport and along with over 1800 police officers, more than 3000 security personnel work at Istanbul Airport.

Also Read: 6 Hotels near Istanbul Airports ( New + Sabiha Gökçen)

In 2018, the airport was used by around 95000 passangers in total. While there was a drop in 2020, the amount of passangers using this airport increased over time and in 2023, Istanbul new airport served around 18 million domestic passangers and approximately 58 million international passangers, which means that the total amount of passangers who used the airport in 2023 was roughly 76 million.

Which Airlines Use This Airport?

With its construction starting in 2014, Istanbul new airport was opened in 2018 and passanger services at this airport started next year, in 2019. It is the hub airport of Turkish Airlines and Turkish Cargo. But aside from those, which airlines use this airport? When talking about an airport, there may be many topics of discussion and one of those can be the airlines that use the airport. Because of this, we will mention some of the airlines that use Istanbul Airport, on this section of our blog post.

Istanbul Airport is used for both passanger and cargo flights. Some of the airlines that use this airport for passanger services include ones such as Aegean Airlines, Air China, Air France, British Airways, easyJet, Emirates, IndiGo, Lufthansa and Korean Air, as of March 2024. Also as of March 2024, some of the airlines that use this airport for cargo services include examples such as EgyptAir Cargo, FedEx Express, MNG Airlines and UPS Airlines. While these are some of the airlines that use Istanbul Airport, changes can happen over time. So if you are after more accurate and up-to-date information, don’t forget to check out official resources about that.

Also Read: Istanbul Airport Guide: The Airports of The City

Istanbul New Airport Local Transportation Options

After arriving at Istanbul new airport, you may wonder what forms of transport you can use to go to the city center. For this purpose, a rental car or taxi can be utilized. Aside from these, another transport option that can be used for going to city center from Istanbul Airport is bus. Moreover, if you want to go from Istanbul Airport to central areas of the city, another mode of transport you can consider using is metro.

What are the Other Airports in Istanbul?

Before Istanbul Airport, Atatürk Airport was one of the functional airports in the city, however it is no longer used, except for private jets. The other one of the international airports in Istanbul is Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, which is located in the Pendik municipality.

Arrived at Istanbul’s New Airport… What to Do in This City?

In Istanbul, there are lots of fun things to do, from exploring the streets of the city to going to a traditional Turkish bath to enjoy some relaxing time. Also, while visiting this city tourists can taste lots of delicious foods from the local cuisine, visit numerous historical attractions and do lots of other activities. If you are looking for some tips for Istanbul travel, don’t forget to check out our blog!

Also Read: 13 Important Istanbul Travel Tips You Should Know

Istanbul New Airport Final Words

Have you been planning to visit Istanbul? Well, this can be a great idea. Because Istanbul is definitely an amazing place to visit, with numerous places of interest and lots of activities to enjoy in this city. If you are after a fun travel journey, you may want to consider visiting Istanbul as a tourist.

In case you visit Istanbul, you may enter the city through one of the international airports, either Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport or Istanbul Airport. Istanbul Airport is also known as Istanbul new airport and we have talked about this place in detail on this blog post. We hope that you have learned some things about this place.

On this detailed blog post, we have talked about the location and history of Istanbul Airport, as well as some general info and some stats about it. When you arrive at the city through this airport, you can use a variety of transport options to reach central spots in Istanbul and start to enjoy your trip in this city…