Mavi Boncuk | It can currently handle 90 million passengers a year.
Once completed in 2027, the 29.5 square-mile airport will be larger than the island of Manhattan. With six runways, it will be able to accommodate up to 200 million travelers per year, making it the busiest airport in the world. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport currently holds that title with 107 million passengers passing through its terminals in 2018. The aging Atatürk International Airport had more than 68 million passengers in 2018, but was overloaded, which is why the new airport was built.
Turkish Technic transferred more than 5,000 components and 10,000 aircraft parts into newly built workshops and warehouses in early April, shortly before the full commercial flight transfer was completed. Technic’s manpower was also relocated, with more than 3,000 roles from engineers and mechanics to administrative personnel .
By 2023, Technic’s proposed MRO complex will be in place to carry out more services, operating in addition to existing hangars at Sabiha Gokcen International Airport and Ankara. The move will also certainly alleviate capacity issues at Ataturk, enabling the company to seek more third-party work. “When all phases of the construction are completed, Technic will be operating on 500,000 m2 [5.4 million ft.2] of space, with facilities delivering base maintenance services for up to 19 widebody and 26 narrowbody aircraft simultaneously.
Given the abundance of capacity, along with the volume of domestic and international traffic passing through, other Turkish MROs are also considering setting up there. MyTechnic, which has its main facility at Sabiha Gokcen, where it offers line and base maintenance services for Boeing and Airbus aircraft, is looking to set up a line maintenance facility at Istanbul Airport by the end of 2020.
Ataturk Airport has become more attractive for business jet owners after the opening of the new airport, by means of less traffic and slot capacity issues as well as being in a city center location.