İGA, owners of Istanbul Airport, have filed application with Turkey’s Director General of Civil Aviation for the facilities third runway to start operating by June 18 2020.
When completed, the airport’s thirds independent runway will make Istanbul Airport Turkey’s first and Europe’s second airport capable to operate such number of runways in parallel, after Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
Once put into operation, the additional runway, located east of Istanbul Airport Terminal will reduce the current domestic taxi times by approximately 50 percent.
Simulations have shown that average landing time will decrease from 15 to 11 minutes, while average take-off time will decrease from 22 to 15 minutes.
Once the third runway is put into operation, the number of fully operational runways at Istanbul Airport will rise to five, comprising three independent and two standby runways.
The new runway will increase the airport’s air traffic capacity from currently 80 landings-take-offs per hour to a minimum of 120, and also improve the slot flexibility of airline companies.
The new runway will allow the airport to reach a capacity capable to host an average of over 2.800 landing-take-off operations daily.
Chief executive of İGA’s Airport Operation, Kadri Samsunlu said, “This has been a difficult year for the aviation industry, but we see this compulsory break as an opportunity to maximize the passengers’ travel experience at Istanbul Airport. We expect the stagnation we have been experiencing for the last couple of months to resolve very soon”.