** Atatürk Airport** 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.

History

Growth and development

In 1911, a small apron with two hangars was built in Yeşilköy, Istanbul, for the Ottoman Armed Forces. 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.

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. 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. The final commercial flight, Turkish Airlines Flight 54, left Atatürk Airport on 6 April 2019 at 02:44 for Singapore. On 5 February 2022, Turkish Cargo relocated all cargo flights and operations from their former hub at the airport to the new Istanbul Airport.

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. 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. 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. These runways were already rendered unusable after they were chosen as the site for Istanbul's pandemic hospital in early 2020. 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. 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 museum here). 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.

Facilities

Former passenger terminals

Istanbul Atatürk Airport featured two passenger terminals linked to each other. 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 and five baggage claim belts on the ground level. 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. In addition, there is a general aviation terminal to the northwest of the passenger terminals.

Former cargo terminal

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

Other facilities

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. Currently, the airport serves only private and business jets as well as operations on behalf of the Government of Turkey.

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. Passenger statistics for Istanbul Atatürk Airport for the years 2002–2019 are below.

Accidents and incidents

Accolades