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Istanbul Airport innovates. Since this week, three aircraft can land or take off at the same time at the airport.
On April 17, iGA Istanbul Airport became the first airport in Europe to implement Triple Independent Runway Operations — a system that allows three aircraft to take off or land simultaneously.
The grand opening was led by Turkey’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, along with several key figures from the Turkish aviation sector, such as Enes Çakmak (head of the state aviation authorities), Ahmet Bolat (chairman of Turkish Airlines), and Mehmet Kalyoncu (board member of iGA Istanbul Airport). During a live demonstration, three Turkish Airlines aircraft took off at the same time.
Minister Uraloğlu expressed his satisfaction with the new development in his speech: “We are proud that Turkey is the only country in Europe using this system. (…) With this new system, air traffic flows more efficiently, and we can handle more aircraft per hour. This means faster and safer service for our passengers. And because Istanbul is located precisely between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, our airport becomes even more important for global air traffic.”
With the new system, the airport can handle 148 aircraft takeoffs or landings per hour, instead of 120. iGA Istanbul Airport aims to receive 200 million passengers per year in the future.