Istanbul Airport.
¿ Who will have the world's largest airport in 2019: Beijing or Istanbul? For now and coinciding with the celebration of the 95th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey (October 29), Istanbul now officially has the world's largest airport: 76.5 million square meters although, yes, it is not fully active.
It could hardly be considering that it is a macro-construction that was launched three years ago. Not all the money in the world -12 billion dollars- can speed up a project of such magnitude.
The new Istanbul Airport City -this is the official name- is located 35km from the capital, consists of three terminals with a capacity that can rise to 200 million passengers a year and six runways . Istanbul's former airport, Istanbul Atatürk Havalimani, will stop working in December 2018 if everything goes your way.
Construction is taking place in four phases. The first was completed with the opening of two runways and a terminal with capacity for 90 million passengers . Once completed, the airport will host flights to more than 300 destinations with an annual capacity up to 200 million passengers.
The most ambitious construction in the world.
Meanwhile he Beijing International Airport , which plan to build it in 2019, will house 700 thousand square meters , four runways and 268 parking spaces, which will be able to receive up to 620,000 flights per year.
Until then, the new Istanbul airport will enjoy that prestige, and not in vain: 36,000 people currently work on the airport construction site and they want to hire 1.5 million people once the project starts.
But not everything is marvelous in its construction. Environmental groups have already demonstrated against the macro-construction that is causing the deforestation of the area , in addition to the death of up to 400 people according to the daily Cumhuriyet .
In contrast, the airport wants to be the greenest in the world thanks to its recycling capabilities and the use of rainwater.
A project that only took three years to build.
WHAT THE AIRPORT WILL BE LIKE
The international design company Perkins+Will has been in charge of designing the airport, which at the moment already has the award "Future projects Infrastructure" of the World Architectural Festival in Berlin 2016 for his Air Traffic Control Tower Inspired by a tulip, the symbol of Istanbul for many centuries and an important cultural reference in Turkish-Islamic history.
Its futuristic architecture reflects the social and cultural heritage of the city with an architectural design that combines avant-garde and functional elements. That is why it is easy to distinguish the references to mosques, baths, domes and many other historical structures in Istanbul. Among some of its curiosities are the 32,000 m² of food and beverage area.
Entrance to Terminal 1.
Perhaps most interesting for the country is its location, as it is at a major global intersection point, especially to attract trade travel between Asia and Europe.
The central area of Terminal 1 is located just meters from an urban development center that will include an innovation district, an aviation academy and university, hotels, shops, apartments, offices and a world-class hospital.
In addition, a cultural center, conference rooms, a museum and exhibition spaces. With its strategic location, the project will also include a logistics zone by having direct access to the North Marmara Expressway, the seaport and the airport through an inland road system.