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.

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

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

Uraloğlu stated that they have opened the sector to private enterprises and encouraged competition with the civil aviation policies they have been pursuing since 2002 as the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, and they have started a period of rapid growth 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 come 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 Post. Turkish Air Post, which started flapping 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 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 renovated the 16 passive airports in question as required by 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 every year statistically 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, "With these giant works and iconic structures, we are actually transforming Turkey into a very valuable brand. All our airports leave extremely positive effects on foreign visitors who see Turkey for the first time with their aesthetic and unique architectures. For example, we built Rize-Artvin Airport with its terminal building reflecting the local architecture bearing traces of the region's cultural elements and its tower inspired by the form of a tea glass. Similarly, our newly opened Çukurova Airport has become a magnificent work with its orange color inspired by citrus and architectural touches reflecting the local culture of the Çukurova Region with cotton motifs, which is the symbol of 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 stated that they ensure the efficient use of resources with regional airports, and emphasized that these airports cover a large area 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 last 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 ADDED 73.5 KILOMETERS TO THE RUNWAY LENGTH’

Uraloğlu stated that there has been a significant increase in runway lengths, saying, "Airport runways are indispensable for a country's economy. Because airport runways grow the economy, enrich the country, and also keep defense strong. Thankfully, with the investments we have made, we have increased the runway length serving Turkish civil aviation from approximately 149 kilometers in 2002 by an additional 73.5 kilometers, bringing it to approximately 222.5 kilometers today. In other words, we are talking about a distance 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 still under construction, and said, "We recently held the official opening of a new terminal building at Kayseri Airport, and we are also building a new terminal building at 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 reflected year after year in the increase in ticket sales and the number of passengers using airlines, and said, "We observe that the number of airline passengers has been increasing regularly since 2002, in parallel with the development of our aviation sector, until 2020, when we experienced the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Of course, there is a decrease in 2020-2021 due to the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic. 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 is easy to say that approximately 3 billion ticketed passengers have been served at our country's airports since 2002. It is easy to say that we are talking about a number close to almost half of the world's population."

Uraloğlu stated that they foresee the number of passengers will increase further this year and that 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.

'THE SECTOR'S TURNOVER INCREASED 14 TIMES'

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

"We have 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 2,014, the number of airline operating aircraft, which was 162, increased 3.5 times to 734, and our seat capacity increased approximately 5 times from 27,599 to 145,027. The number of employees, which was around 65,000 in 2002, has exceeded 320,000 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. By acting with the goal of 'There will be no point in the world that we cannot reach', we have made Turkey one of the countries with the widest flight network in the world. Currently, with the number of air transport agreements being 175, we are among the countries with the most air transport agreements in the world. 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 also 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 12,313 to 24,626, and said, "The number of air traffic controllers is currently around 2,100, and we aim to increase this number to approximately 4,200."

'WE ARE SIGNING ANOTHER AGREEMENT'

Uraloğlu, who also provided information about the new terminal buildings of Antalya Airport, said, "We are putting our signature on a new achievement for the development of our civil aviation sector with the new terminal buildings and complementary facilities of Antalya Airport, which will add strength to our airline sector. The new terminal buildings project of Antalya Airport in Antalya, the capital of tourism, is one of the most brilliant examples of our successful aviation journey. 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, "Between March 28 and April 6, 4,202 aircraft traffic occurred at Antalya Airport, serving 590,189 passengers, and the passenger record of this year was broken on Saturday, April 5, with 78,085 passengers. Together, we will provide better services in Antalya with the constantly increasing passenger demand of our airport and the growing tourism sector."

Uraloğlu stated that they predict the number of passengers to reach 41 million in 2026, exceed 42 million in 2027, and approach 45 million in 2029, and said, "We made these investments in Antalya Airport because we saw these realities 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, and said, "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. In addition, we 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 that present the majesty of the Taurus Mountains, the coolness of the Mediterranean, and its geography bearing the traces of history to millions of guests, and said, "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 passenger capacity of 90 million."