Atatürk Airport

Atatürk Airport (IATA: ISL, ICAO: LTBA) is an airport currently in use for private jets. It used to be the primary international airport of Istanbul and the hub of Turkish Airlines until it was closed to commercial passenger flights on 6 April 2019. From that point, all passenger flights were transferred to the new Istanbul Airport.^[4][5] Since the move of commercial operations to the new airport, Atatürk Airport is open to general aviation and functioning as an executive airport.

Atatürk Airport Atatürk Havalimanı
IATA: ISL ICAO: LTBA
Summary
Airport type	Defunct
Owner	General Directorate of State Airports (DHMİ)
Operator	TAV Airports
Serves	Istanbul, Turkey
Location	Yeşilköy, Bakırköy, Istanbul
Opened	1953 (1953) (as airport)[1]
Closed	5 February 2022 (2022-02-05) (cargo)
Passenger services ceased	6 April 2019 (2019-04-06)
Built	1912 (1912) (as airfield)
Elevation AMSL	163 ft / 50 m
Coordinates	40°58′34″N 028°48′51″E
Website	ataturkairport.com (archived on 8 February 2020)
Maps
ISL Location within Istanbul Show map of Istanbul ISL ISL (Turkey) Show map of Turkey ISL ISL (Europe) Show map of Europe ISL ISL (North Atlantic) Show map of North Atlantic
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 05/23 2,580 8,465 Grooved asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Total passengers 16,112,804[2] International passengers 11,876,601
Source: Turkish AIP at Eurocontrol Turkey[3]

History

Growth and development

In 1911, a small apron with two hangars was built in Yeşilköy, Istanbul, for the Ottoman Armed Forces.^[6] Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded Türk Tayyare Cemiyeti (Turkish Aircraft Company, today Türk Hava Kurumu - THK) in 1925. In 1933, today's Turkish Airlines, the Türkiye Devlet Hava Yolları started its flights with two Curtiss Kingbird aircraft. Flights from Istanbul to Ankara and Athens began. The small apron was expanded and a new passenger terminal was built. This is considered the beginning of the airport's 86-year history. It was originally named Yeşilköy Airport. In the 1980s, it was renamed Atatürk International Airport.

It served more than 60 million passengers in 2015, making it the 11th-busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic and the 10th-busiest in the world in terms of international passenger traffic. In 2017, it was Europe's 5th-busiest airport after London–Heathrow, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt Airport, and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, having fallen from third place after a decline in passengers due to security fears.^[7]

Closure

Istanbul Atatürk Airport was replaced in regards to commercial passenger functions by the newly constructed Istanbul Airport, in April 2019, in order to meet Istanbul's growing domestic and international air traffic demand as a source, destination, and transit point. Both airports were used in parallel for five months from late 2018, with the new airport gradually expanding to serve more domestic and regional destinations.^[8] On 6 April 2019, Atatürk's IST IATA airport code was inherited by Istanbul Airport and Atatürk Airport was assigned the code ISL after the full transfer of all scheduled passenger activities to the new airport was completed.^[9] The final commercial flight, Turkish Airlines Flight 54, left Atatürk Airport on 6 April 2019 at 02:44 for Singapore.^[10]

On 5 February 2022, Turkish Cargo relocated all cargo flights and operations from their former hub at the airport to the new Istanbul Airport.^[11][12]

Atatürk Airport National Garden

Turkey's government announced its plans to construct a giant park on the grounds of the former Istanbul Atatürk Airport (whose operations were transferred to the new Istanbul Airport) in 2019.^[13] The park is part of a larger urban transformation plan that seeks to correct some of the haphazard urban planning that characterised most major Turkish cities since the 1970s.^[14] Due to the little space available to construct or expand green spaces, new parks are often constructed on spots formerly occupied by factories or other major facilities.

The Atatürk Airport National Garden will be constructed on and around one of the two runways of Atatürk Airport.^[15] These runways were already rendered unusable after they were chosen as the site for Istanbul's pandemic hospital in early 2020.^[16] More than 132,500 trees are to be planted in place of the asphalt runway and taxiways that will also help to keep the city cooler.^[13] The other runway is set to remain in use for select cargo and private jet flights, aviation fairs (such as Teknofest) and for use by the Turkish Air Force (which still maintains a small training base and the Istanbul Aviation Museum here).^{[citation needed]}

The leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu called the proposed construction of the park "treason" and threatened to hold those responsible to account.^[17]

Construction commenced in 2022.^[18] First areas of the park were opened to the public in 2023.^[19] In 2024, the Council of State cancelled the construction tender, following a lawsuit filed by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.^[18][20]

Facilities

The original terminal at Yeşilköy in 1970

The former main terminal, inaugurated in 1983, which then served as the domestic section until 2019

The now defunct main passenger terminal in 2013

Former passenger terminals

Istanbul Atatürk Airport featured two passenger terminals linked to each other.^[21] The former domestic terminal is the older and smaller of the two terminals and exclusively handled domestic flights within Turkey. It featured its own check-in and airside facilities on the upper floor, with twelve departure gates equipped with jet bridges^[21] and five baggage claim belts on the ground level.^[21] The former international terminal was inaugurated in 2000 and used for all international flights. It featured a large main hall containing 8 check-in aisles and a wide range of airside facilities such as shops and restaurants, 34 gates equipped with jet bridges, and 7 bus-boarding stands. The arrivals floor had 11 baggage claim belts.^[21] In addition, there is a general aviation terminal to the northwest of the passenger terminals.^[22]

Former cargo terminal

The airport featured a dedicated cargo terminal including facilities for the handling of radioactive and refrigerated freight.^[23]

Other facilities

• Turkish Airlines has its headquarters in the Turkish Airlines General Management Building, located within the airport campus.^[24][25]
• Prima Aviation Services Inc. has its MRO facilities in new technical site at the air side Gate A.^[26]
• A metro station on the M1A line served the airport from its opening on 20 December 2002.
• In May 2020, the Yeşilköy Prof. Dr. Murat Dilmener Emergency Hospital using the former site of the 35L/35R runways were opened in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey.

Current operations

As of April 2019, all passenger operations have been relocated to the new Istanbul Airport. As of February 2022, all cargo operations have been relocated to the new airport as well.^{[27][citation needed]} Currently, the airport serves only private and business jets as well as operations on behalf of the Government of Turkey.^{[citation needed]}

Statistics

Istanbul Atatürk Airport ranked 17th in ACI statistics at the end of 2011 in terms of international traffic with almost 24 million international passengers. It ranked 29th in the world in terms of total passenger traffic with over 37.4 million passengers in 2011. Its total traffic within the last decade more than tripled, and its international traffic quadrupled.^[28][29] Passenger statistics for Istanbul Atatürk Airport for the years 2002–2019 are below.^[30]

Annual passenger traffic at ISL airport. See Wikidata query.

Passenger statistics at Istanbul Atatürk Airport^[30]

Year	Domestic passengers	Passenger % change	International passenger	Passenger % change	Total passenger	Passenger % change	World rank international	World rank total
2019	4,236,203	78	11,876,601	76	16,112,804	76
2018	19,216,523	2	49,130,261	10	68,346,784	7	10th	16th
2017	19,629,425	3	44,476,589	8	64,106,014	6	11th	15th
2016	19,133,533	1	41,281,937	2	60,415,470	1	11th	14th
2015	19,333,873	4	41,998,251	10	61,332,124	8	10th	11th
2014	18,542,295	8	38,152,871	12	56,695,166	11	9th	13th
2013	17,218,672	13	34,079,118	14	51,297,790	14	10th	18th
2012	15,279,655	14	29,812,307	24	45,091,962	21	13th	20th
2011	13,421,536	14	23,973,158	18	37,394,694	16	17th	30th
2010	11,800,833	3	20,342,986	11	32,143,819	8	19th	37th
2009	11,416,838	1	18,396,050	8	29,812,888	4		39th
2008	11,484,063	20	17,069,069	26	28,553,132	23		42th
2007	9,595,923	6	13,600,306	12	23,196,229	9		45th
2006	9,091,693	21	12,174,281	3	21,265,974	10		47th
2005	7,512,282	39	11,781,487	16	19,293,769	24
2004	5,430,925	70	10,169,676	14	15,600,601	29
2003	3,196,045	12	8,908,268	5	12,104,342	7
2002	2,851,487		8,506,204		11,357,691

Annual aircraft operations^[31]

Year	Aircraft operations
2007	262,248
2008	276,148
2009	283,953
2010	288,246
2011	325,209
2012	364,322
2013	406,317
2014	439,532
2015	464,774
2016	466,396
2017	460,785
2018	464,646
2019	138,279
2020	37,468
2021	41,032
2022	28,272
2023	25,205
2024	28,230

Accidents and incidents

• On 30 January 1975, Turkish Airlines Flight 345, crashed into the Sea of Marmara during its final approach to the airport. All 42 passengers and crew on board were killed.^[32]
• On 25 April 2015, Turkish Airlines Flight 1878, operated by an A320-200, TC-JPE was severely damaged in a landing accident. The aircraft aborted the first hard landing, which inflicted engine and gear damage. On the second attempt at landing, the right gear collapsed and the aircraft rolled off the runway spinning 180 degrees. All 97 passengers and 5 crew members survived with no injuries. The aircraft was written off as a result of the accident.^[33]
• On 28 June 2016, three terrorists killed 44 civilians by gunfire and subsequent suicide bombings, along with 239 civilians injured.^[34][35] The three men arrived in a taxi cab and opened fire at the terminal. The three men then blew themselves up when police opened fire. The airport has X-ray scanners at the entrance to the terminal but security checks for cars are limited.^[34][36]
• On 15 July 2016, the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt took place. During the attempted coup, units of the Turkish Armed Forces seized control of the airport and closed it, but it was reopened after pro-government forces regained control.^[37][38][39]

Accolades

• The Turkish Chamber of Civil Engineers lists İstanbul Atatürk Airport as one of the fifty civil engineering feats in Turkey, a list of remarkable engineering projects completed in the first 50 years of the chamber's existence.^[40]
• In the 2013 Air Transport News awards ceremony, İstanbul Atatürk Airport was named Airport of the Year.^[41]
• The airport was named Europe's Best Airport in the 40–50 million passenger per year category at the 2013 Skytrax World Airport Awards.^[42]

See also

• List of the busiest airports in Turkey
• List of the busiest airports in Europe
• List of the busiest airports in Europe (2010–2015)