Turkey’s mega airport to hits passenger numbers at other Middle Eastern hubs

The opening of Istanbul’s third airport will result in a drop of passenger numbers for Middle East hub airports in Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, according to industry experts.

The new airport, scheduled to open on 29 October, will be the largest in Europe, consisting of seven runways and, when fully completed, will have a capacity to handle 200 million passengers per year.

After its eventual completion the new airport is predicted to outstrip other mega airports such as Atlanta International Airport which handled 101 million in 2015 according to the Airport Council International.

The same dataset shows in 2015 Dubai International Airport handled 78 million passengers while Heathrow pushed through 75 million.

With the new airport Turkey will cement its position as the gateway between Europe and Asia, a reputation which UAE had tried to build for itself over the past decade through Dubai airport.

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Transit flights through Istanbul’s existing two airports have already increased even before the new airport has opened with the numbers up 21 per cent in 2017. At the same time Dubai and Doha airports saw no rise in transit numbers while Abu Dhabi was down 14 per cent.

The $11.3 billion mega airport will be located about 22 miles outside the city, on the spacious northern end of the Istanbul’s European side. Along with its modern design, runways, terminals, air traffic control towers and technology, the new Istanbul airport will be equipped with the most advanced security.