Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that the opening of the new terminal buildings of Antalya Airport will be held tomorrow by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

In his written statement regarding the capacity increase works at Antalya Airport, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said, "Tomorrow, with the presence of our President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we will experience the pride of putting another of our country's important projects in the fields of aviation and tourism into the service of our nation by opening the new terminal buildings of Antalya Airport. We will make room for more dreams in our Antalya, where the traces of history and every shade of blue come together, and the scent of oranges rises."

'WE HAVE MADE OUR COUNTRY ONE OF THE COUNTRIES WITH THE WIDEST FLIGHT NETWORK IN THE WORLD'

Uraloğlu stated that with the civil aviation policies they have been pursuing as the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure since 2002, they have encouraged competition by opening the sector to private enterprises and initiated a rapid growth period in aviation, "We have made our country one of the countries with the widest flight network in the world in 23 years. But of course, we did not get to these days easily. Look, the history of our civil aviation activities dates back to May 20, 1933. Our first fleet of 4 aircraft started operating under the name of Turkish Air Posts. Turkish Air Posts, which started to flap its wings by making its first flight in 1933, has now taken almost the whole world under its wings under the name of Turkish Airlines."

Uraloğlu also stated that the number of active airports in 2002 was 26, and reminded that 16 airports such as Adıyaman, Batman, Bursa Yenişehir, Çanakkale, Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airports were passive in terms of civil aviation. Stating that they have renewed the 16 passive airports in accordance with the requirements of the age and opened them to civil aviation, Uraloğlu said, "We have added 16 new airports such as Istanbul, Rize-Artvin, Ordu-Giresun, Zafer, Hakkari Yüksekova Selahaddin Eyyubi, Hatay and Şırnak Şerafettin Elçi Airports to our civil aviation. In other words, we see that we have opened approximately 1.4 airports to service statistically every year in the last 23 years."

'WE ARE TRANSFORMING TURKEY INTO A VERY VALUABLE BRAND'

Uraloğlu noted that they built airport projects as unique structures with both service-oriented and architectural aesthetics, as in all projects, and said, "We are actually transforming Turkey into a very valuable brand with these monumental works and landmark buildings. All our airports leave extremely positive impressions on foreign visitors who see Turkey for the first time with their aesthetic and unique architecture. For example, we built Rize-Artvin Airport with a terminal building reflecting the local architecture bearing traces of the region's cultural elements and a tower inspired by the form of a tea glass. Likewise, our latest new airport, Çukurova Airport, has become a magnificent work with architectural touches that reflect the local culture of the Çukurova Region with its orange color inspired by citrus fruits and cotton motifs symbolizing the region. Our Istanbul Airport, which transforms our country into an international aviation center, has become an airport that everyone admires with its modern architecture and the tulip form, which is one of the symbols of Istanbul."

Uraloğlu also stated that they ensured the efficient use of resources with regional airports, and emphasized that these airports cover a wide region with facilities located at strategic points instead of building a separate airport for each city. Minister Uraloğlu said, "Thus, both costs are reduced and more people can benefit from air transportation. For example, our latest airport, Çukurova International Airport, serves more than 5 million citizens living in these cities with its proximity to Mersin and Adana, as well as Osmaniye and Niğde."

'WE HAVE ADDED 73.5 KILOMETERS MORE TO THE RUNWAY LENGTH'

Uraloğlu stated that there has been a significant increase in runway lengths and said, "Airport runways are indispensable for a country's economy. Because airport runways grow the economy, enrich the country, and also keep the defense strong. Thank God, with the investments we have made, we have increased the runway length serving Turkish civil aviation from approximately 149 kilometers in 2002 to approximately 222.5 kilometers today by adding 73.5 kilometers. In other words, today we are talking about a distance extending from Ankara Kızılay to Eskişehir city center or from Antalya Airport to Konya Akşehir by road."

Uraloğlu stated that they will increase the number of active airports from 58 to 60 with the Yozgat and Bayburt-Gümüşhane Airports, which are under construction, and said, "We recently held the official opening of a new terminal building at our Kayseri Airport, and we are also building a new terminal building at our Malatya Airport. Our work on the new Trabzon airport is also continuing."

'WE REFRESHED OUR RECORD WITH 230 MILLION PASSENGERS'

Uraloğlu noted that the increase in the number of active airports is also reflected year by year in the increase in ticket sales and the number of passengers using the airline, and said, "We observe that the number of airline passengers has increased regularly since 2002, in parallel with the development of our aviation sector, until 2020, when we experienced the effects of the Covid-19 epidemic. Of course, there is a decrease in 2020-2021 due to the Covid-19 epidemic. However, in 2023, the 100th anniversary of our Republic, we broke all-time records by carrying over 214 million passengers. In 2024, that is, last year, we refreshed our record by exceeding this number and reaching 230 million passengers. It's easy to say, approximately 3 billion ticketed passengers have been served at our country's airports since 2002. It's easy to say, we are talking about a number close to almost half of the world's population."

Uraloğlu stated that they foresee that the number of passengers will increase even more this year and approximately 240 million passengers will be carried, and noted that in the first 3-month period of this year, the number of passengers traveling by air reached 45 million 175 thousand 946. Uraloğlu also reminded that this number was approximately 44 million in the same period last year.

'SECTOR'S TURNOVER INCREASED 14 FOLD'

Minister Uraloğlu noted that there has been a great increase in sectoral size in parallel with all the developments, and continued his statement as follows:

"We increased the total number of our organizations from 180 to 678. In 2002, the number of vehicles used in aviation activities increased from 489 to 2 thousand 14, the number of airline operation aircraft, which was 162, increased 3.5 times to 734, and our seat capacity increased approximately 5 times from 27 thousand 599 to 145 thousand 27. The number of employees, which was around 65 thousand in 2002, has exceeded 320 thousand today. As another positive result of these developments, the sector's turnover also increased 14 times from 2.2 billion dollars to approximately 30 billion dollars. We have made Turkey one of the countries with the widest flight network in the world, acting with the goal of 'There will be no point in the world that we cannot reach'. Currently, with the number of air transport agreements being 175, we are among the leading countries in the world in this field. In the next 10 years, we aim to sign air transport agreements with all 193 ICAO members by contacting these countries as well."

Minister Uraloğlu stated that they plan to increase the number of aircraft in airline operations from 729 to 1458 within 10 years, and aim to increase the number of pilots in airlines from 12 thousand 313 to 24 thousand 626, and said, "The number of air traffic controllers is currently around 2 thousand 100, and we aim to increase this number to approximately 4 thousand 200."

'WE ARE SIGNING ANOTHER AGREEMENT'

Minister Uraloğlu, also providing information about the new terminal buildings of Antalya Airport, said, "We are putting another signature on the development of our civil aviation sector with the new terminal buildings and complementary facilities of Antalya Airport, which will add strength to the strength of our airline sector. The new terminal buildings project of Antalya Airport, in Antalya, the capital of tourism, is one of the brightest examples of our successful journey in the field of aviation. In 2024, our airport served a total of 39.2 million passengers, including 6.2 million domestic passengers and nearly 33 million international passengers. In the first 3 months of this year, Antalya Airport served 3 million 36 thousand 451 passengers."

Uraloğlu stated that Antalya Airport broke records during the Ramadan Holiday, saying, "Between March 28 and April 6, 4,202 aircraft traffic occurred at Antalya Airport, serving 590,189 passengers, and a passenger record of 78,085 passengers was reached on Saturday, April 5, breaking this year's passenger record. Together with the constantly increasing passenger demand of our airport and the growing tourism sector, we will provide better services in Antalya."

Uraloğlu stated that they predict the number of passengers will exceed 41 million in 2026, 42 million in 2027, and approach 45 million in 2029, and said, "We made these investments in Antalya Airport because we saw these facts in advance. The new terminal buildings of Antalya Airport are not just a structure; they are also monumental structures where hospitality meets."

'WE INCREASED THE ANNUAL PASSENGER CAPACITY FROM 35 MILLION TO 82 MILLION'

Uraloğlu stated that with the new terminal buildings that they will open tomorrow; they will increase the international terminal from 90,143 square meters to 224,000 square meters, and the domestic terminal from 36,859 square meters to 75,000 square meters, saying, "Thus, we are increasing the annual passenger capacity of our airport from 35 million to 82 million. We increased the number of aircraft parking positions from 108 to 176. We also expanded the VIP Terminal from 690 square meters to 2,000 square meters, and the General Aviation Terminal from 1,200 square meters to 2,800 square meters. Our general aviation building will also be used as a CIP terminal."

'IT WILL BE THE 2ND AIRPORT WITH THE HIGHEST PASSENGER CAPACITY'

Uraloğlu stated that the new terminal buildings will be ambassadors presenting the magnificence of the Taurus Mountains, the coolness of the Mediterranean, and the geography bearing the traces of history to millions of guests, saying, "Now the doors of Antalya will open to much wider horizons. In addition, with its new capacity of 82 million, Antalya Airport will now be the 2nd airport with the highest passenger capacity after Istanbul Airport, which has a capacity of 90 million passengers."

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