Istanbul Airport
Istanbul Airport (İstanbul Havalimanı, in Turkish), (IATA code: IST – ICAO code: LTFM) is an international airport located northwest of Istanbul near the Black Sea and inaugurated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 29 October 2018.
It is Turkey’s main airport and the world’s largest airport in terms of capacity, which will eventually handle 200 million passengers per year, and will have 6 runways, including 2028 1,2,3,4. The project will cost $7 billion excluding financing costs1 .
The highways leading to the new airport were completed in October 2018. One is the highway (O-6) that runs parallel to the express train line over the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, and the other is the highway (O-7) that leads to Ataturk Airport.
Istanbul airport operator has established a cab company with an Istanbul cab community. Thus, most cabs are of a different color than others in Istanbul. In newer vehicles, there is a screen that shows passengers the route and price before departure. Using an app, cabs can be reserved and paid for.
Otobüs AŞ (Istanbul City Bus Department) operates 11 bus routes with 150 long-distance buses under the name “Havaist”. The buses will be integrated with the mass transit system in Istanbul (Metro, Metrobüs, Banliyö Trenleri, etc.). As there were only about a dozen flights a day until the end of March 2019, only five lines went to the airport. Since April 1, 2019, 11 lines have been operated including to the smaller Sabina Gökçen Airport.
Two metro lines are currently under construction. One line will run through the airport area to the city center at Gayrettepe. There, passengers will be able to transfer to other metro lines and the “Metrobüs”. The other line will connect the airport with the Halkalı long-distance train station. To bridge the gap (in the period between the opening in April 2019 and the opening of the metro station in 2021), Havaist buses operated by the municipal transport company will take passengers to the city center (along the future metro lines). The airport will be connected to the metro station by the “Metrobüs”.
An express train station is planned right next to the metro station. The express train is to travel across the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport and then on to Ankara. However, no date has yet been set for its execution.
The largest building at the airport, Terminal 1, has five piers. It features influences of Turkish and Islamic art and architecture.
The building has two floors. Right at the entrance to the departure hall there is – as is usual at Turkish airports – a first security check. Once you have passed this, you are in the check-in hall with 500 check-in counters and numerous self-check-in kiosks. 9 of the 13 check-in islands (Check-Ins B-L) are reserved for Turkish Airlines passengers.
Check-In L has been set up for Business Class, Elite and Elite Plus passengers. Eight robots have also been purchased. The robots, produced by Akınsoft, provide information to travellers regarding departure gates, check-in, baggage and delays in Turkish, English, Russian and Arabic.
There are various restaurants and bars on the upper floor. On the airside of the passport and security checkpoints for departing passengers is, among other things, the duty-free shop, which opened on 15 January 2019, with a sales area of 53,000 sqm. Unifree Duty Free, a subsidiary of Gebr. Heinemann SE & Co. KG, will operate the shop for at least 25 years. The airport hotel is operated by Yotel and opened in March 2019. The hotel has two areas, one on the landside and one on the airside.
Most of the retail space at the airport is located in the “Bosphorus Corridor”. Following this part are the piers with the gates. The lower floor is for arriving passengers. After the baggage carousels are shopping facilities and restaurants. There is also a duty-free shop.
The five piers are directly connected to the terminal. One is built for domestic flights, four for international flights. A total of 143 passenger boarding bridges have been built.
According to the airport operator, the furthest gate is 2 km from the entrance. To shorten the travel time to the gates, 166 escalators, 167 moving walkways and 332 lifts have been installed.
The airport has high security standards: 9000 cameras, a number plate recognition system, a facial recognition system as well as hundreds of motion sensors that detect conspicuous movements and trigger an alarm at the airport’s security department.
The airport’s security department is also equipped with an alarm system.
If you then leave Terminal 1, you come to the bus stops and the istanbul airport taxi rank. In addition, a road runs in front of the entrance, so it is possible to get in and out quickly without having to drive into the multi-storey car park. The car park has a capacity of 18,000 vehicles.
A covered bridge leads to Istanbul Airport City and on to the metro station and the future express train station.