Sabiha Gökçen International Airport

Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport

İstanbul Sabiha Gökçen Uluslararası Havalimanı
Aerial view of the airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerHEAŞ (Airport Management & Aeronautical Industries Inc)
OperatorMalaysia Airports
ServesIstanbul
LocationPendik, Turkey
Opened8 January 2001; 23 years ago (2001-01-08)
Operating base for
Time zoneTRT (UTC+3)
Elevation AMSL95 m / 312 ft
Coordinates40°53′54″N 29°18′33″E / 40.89833°N 29.30917°E / 40.89833; 29.30917
Websitewww.sabihagokcen.aero
Map
SAW/LTFJ is located in Istanbul
SAW/LTFJ
SAW/LTFJ
Location of airport in Istanbul province
SAW/LTFJ is located in Turkey
SAW/LTFJ
SAW/LTFJ
SAW/LTFJ (Turkey)
SAW/LTFJ is located in Black Sea
SAW/LTFJ
SAW/LTFJ
SAW/LTFJ (Black Sea)
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
06L/24R 3,000 9,843 Concrete
06R/24L 3,500 11,483 Concrete
Statistics (2022)
Passengers30,769,728
Passenger change 21-22Increase24%
Aircraft movements200,034
Movements change 21-22Increase10%
Source: Turkish AIP at EUROCONTROL[1]
Passenger Traffic, ACI Europe[2]

Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (IATA: SAW, ICAO: LTFJ) is an international airport serving Istanbul, Turkey. Located 32 km (20 mi) southeast[1] of the city center, Sabiha Gökçen Airport is in the Asian part of the transcontinental city and serves as the operating base for AJet and Pegasus Airlines.

The airport is named after Sabiha Gökçen, adoptive daughter of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the first female fighter pilot in the world.[3] Although Istanbul Airport, located 63 km (39 mi) west of the European side of Istanbul, is larger, Sabiha Gökçen is still one of the largest airports in the country and one of the busiest airports in the Middle East.

Overview

Foundation

The airport was built because Atatürk Airport (located on the European side) was not large enough to meet the booming passenger demands (both domestic and international). The airport opened on 8 January 2001. In June 2007, Turkish conglomerate Limak Holding, India's GMR Group and Malaysia Airport Holding Berhad (MAHB) consortium gained the contract for upgrading and maintaining the airport. In mid-2008, ground was broken to upgrade the international terminal to handle 25 million passengers annually. The new terminal was inaugurated on 31 October 2009.[4]

SAW's international terminal capacity originally was 3 million passengers per year and the domestic terminal capacity was 0.5 million passengers per year. In 2010, Sabiha Gökçen airport handled 11,129,472 passengers, a 71% increase compared to 2009.[5] The airport was planning (in 2011) to host 25 million passengers by 2023,[6][7] but has already received and handled more than 35 million passengers by 2019.

Expansion

In September 2010, the airport was voted the World's Best Airport at the World Low Cost Airlines Congress in London and received the award.[8] The other awards received by the airport in 2010 were: Turkey's Most Successful Tourism Investment 2010, the highly commended award from Routes Europe, and the Airport Traffic Growth Award by Airline News & Network Analysis.[9]

A second runway was inaugurated on 25 December 2023.[10] The addition of this runway will increase the hourly capacity from 40 to 80 aircraft movements, making the airport hope for double the capacity. It is also planned to build new passenger terminals between the two runways.[11]

Facilities

Terminal

The new terminal building with a 25 million annual passenger capacity serves domestic and international flights under one roof. It is equipped with 112 check-in, 24 online check-in counters as well as a VIP building and apron viewing CIP halls with business lounges. The terminal additionally features a 400 m2 (4,300 sq ft) conference center, a 5,000 m2 (54,000 sq ft) food court and a duty-free shopping area with a ground of 4,500 square metres (48,000 sq ft). At the international departures area, on the airside, an hourly hotel and lounge became operational in January 2020 as well.[12]

Other facilities

The features and services of the new terminal and its outlying buildings include a four-storey car park with a capacity of about 4,718 vehicles + 72 bus (3.836 indoors and 882 + 72 bus outdoors), a four-storey hotel with 128 rooms adjacent to the terminal. There is also a Multi Aircraft Ramp System (MARS), allowing simultaneous service to 8 aircraft with large fuselages (IATA code E) or 16 middle-sized fuselage aircraft (IATA code C) installed. The airport's cargo terminal has a capacity of 90,000 tons per year and is equipped with 18 cold storage depots.[citation needed]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Sabiha Gökçen International Airport:[13]

AirlinesDestinations
Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, Cairo,[14] Casablanca, Sharjah, Tangier
Air Cairo Cairo[15]
AJet[16][17][18][19][20] Adana/Mersin,[21] Adiyaman, Ağrı, Amsterdam, Ankara, Antalya, Baghdad, Bahrain, Baku, Barcelona,[22] Basel/Mulhouse, Batman, Belgrade,[23][24] Bergamo,[25] Berlin, Bodrum, Brussels, Budapest,[26] Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen,[24] Dalaman, Dammam, Denizli, Diyarbakır, Dubai–International, Düsseldorf, Edremit, Elazığ, Erbil, Ercan, Erzincan, Erzurum, Frankfurt, Gaziantep, Giza, Hamburg,[24] Hannover,[24] Hatay, Iğdır,[27] İzmir, Jeddah, Kars, Kayseri, Konya, Kuwait City, London–Stansted, Lyon,[24] Malatya, Mardin, Medina, Munich, Nevşehir, Ordu/Giresun, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Pristina,[28] Riyadh, Rize/Artvin,[29] Rome–Fiumicino, Samsun, Şanlıurfa, Sarajevo,[24] Sharjah,[30] Shymkent, Şırnak, Sivas, Stuttgart, Tbilisi, Tehran–Imam Khomeini, Tel Aviv (suspended),[31] Tokat,[32] Trabzon, Tuzla,[33] Urmia,[24] Van, Vienna, Zurich[24]
Azerbaijan Airlines Baku[34]
British Airways London–Heathrow[35]
FlyArystan Türkıstan
Fly Baghdad Baghdad
flydubai Dubai–International
flynas Gassim, Jeddah,[36] Riyadh, Dammam
Iraqi Airways Baghdad
Jazeera Airways Kuwait City[37]
Kuwait Airways Kuwait City
Nile Air Cairo
Pegasus Airlines Abu Dhabi,[38] Adana/Mersin,[39] Adıyaman,[40] Alexandria,[41] Almaty, Amasya/Merzifon, Amman–Queen Alia, Amsterdam, Ankara, Antalya, Astana, Athens, Baghdad, Bahrain, Baku, Barcelona, Basel/Mulhouse, Basra,[42] Batman, Batumi,[43] Beirut, Belgrade, Bergamo, Berlin, Bratislava, Birmingham,[44] Bishkek, Bodrum, Bologna, Bremen,[45] Bucharest–Otopeni, Budapest, Casablanca,[46] Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen, Dalaman, Dammam, Denizli, Diyarbakır, Doha, Dortmund,[47] Dubai–International, Dublin,[48] Düsseldorf, Edinburgh,[49] Edremit, Eindhoven,[50] Elazığ, Erbil, Ercan, Erzincan, Erzurum, Frankfurt, Ganja,[51] Gaziantep, Gazipaşa/Alanya, Geneva, Grozny, Hamburg, Hannover, Hatay[citation needed], Helsinki, Hurghada, Iğdır,[52] Isfahan,[53] İzmir, Jeddah, Kahramanmaraş, Karachi, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Konya, Kutaisi,[54] Kuwait City, London–Stansted, Lyon, Madrid, Malatya, Manchester,[55] Mardin, Marseille, Mashhad,[56] Medina,[57] Munich, Muş, Muscat,[58] Nice, Nuremberg, Ordu/Giresun, Osh,[59] Oslo, Paris–Charles de Gaulle,[40] Podgorica,[60] Prague, Pristina, Ras Al Khaimah,[61] Riyadh,[62] Rize/Artvin, Rome–Fiumicino, Rotterdam/The Hague,[63] Saint Petersburg,[64] Samsun, Şanlıurfa, Sarajevo, Seville,[65][66] Sharjah,[67] Sharm El Sheikh, Shiraz,[53] Shymkent, Sinop,[68] Sivas, Skopje, Sofia,[69] Stockholm–Arlanda, Stuttgart, Sulaimaniyah, Tabriz, Tbilisi, Tehran–Imam Khomeini, Tel Aviv, Tirana, Trabzon, Tuzla,[70] Van, Venice,[71] Vienna, Yerevan,[72] Zagreb,[73] Zurich
Seasonal: Mytilene,[40] Plovdiv,[74] Rhodes[40]
Qatar Airways Doha
Royal Air Maroc Casablanca
SalamAir Muscat[75]

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
Cargolux[76] Luxembourg
Ethiopian Cargo[77] Addis Ababa
MNG Airlines[78] Leipzig/Halle, Paris–Charles de Gaulle

Statistics

Traffic figures

Terminal building
Check-in area
View of the apron
İstanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport passenger traffic statistics[79]
Year Domestic % change International % change Total % change
2024(Sep.) 14,761,953 Increase 13% 16,209,745 Increase 12% 30,971,698 Increase 13%
2023 17,661,416 Increase 16% 19,368,589 Increase 25% 37,030,005 Increase 20%
2022 15,218,165 Decrease 5% 15,551,563 Increase 77% 30,769,728 Increase 24%
2021 16,095,763 Increase 38% 8,805,144 Increase 67% 24,900,907 Increase 47%
2020 11,687,578 Decrease 46% 5,263,612 Decrease 63% 16,951,190 Decrease 52%
2019 21,415,596 Decrease 5% 14,057,256 Increase 21% 35,472,852 Increase 4%
2018 22,514,048 Increase 7% 11,619,569 Increase 13% 34,133,617 Increase 9%
2017 21,056,767 Increase 4% 10,329,074 Increase 9% 31,385,841 Increase 6%
2016 20,131,365 Increase 9% 9,446,370 Decrease 1% 29,577,735 Increase 5%
2015 18,535,463 Increase 24% 9,576,975 Increase 12% 28,108,738 Increase 20%
2014 15,008,600 Increase 26% 8,499,541 Increase 29% 23,508,141 Increase 27%
2013 11,947,424 Increase 23% 6,694,418 Increase 35% 18,641,842 Increase 27%
2012 9,486,469 Increase 9% 5,000,773 Increase 13% 14,487,242 Increase 10%
2011 8,704,249 Increase 16% 4,420,421 Increase 20% 13,124,670 Increase 17%
2010 7,435,158 Increase 65% 3,694,314 Increase 84% 11,129,472 Increase 71%
2009 4,547,673 Increase 63% 2,092,285 Increase 33% 6,639,958 Increase 52%
2008 2,764,856 Increase 9% 1,516,337 Increase 27% 4,281,193 Increase 15%
2007 2,528,549 Increase 17% 1,191,946 Increase 56% 3,720,495 Increase 28%
2006 2,153,561 Increase 285% 762,893 Increase 66% 2,916,454 Increase 186%
2005 559,824 Increase 5,323% 459,922 Increase 96% 1,019,746 Increase 315%
2004 10,323 Increase 265% 235,278 Increase 52% 245,601 Increase 56%
2003 2,826 – 154,346 – 157,172 –

Passenger development

Annual passenger traffic at SAW airport. See Wikidata query.

Ground transport

See also: Public transport in Istanbul
The M4 metro line has been extended to the airport.

Sabiha Gökçen International Airport is connected to the city of Istanbul and the city's wider metropolitan area through a number of transport options.

Rail

The airport is located 14 km from the Pendik railway station and sea-taxi stations. M10 (Istanbul Metro) M10, a metro connection to Marmaray and High Speed Train (YHT) Yüksek Hızlı Tren via the Pendik station is currently being built.

Metro

The Line M4 M4 metro line has been extended to the airport.

Road

The airport is reachable by car and taxi [80] from the E80 European motorway which passes through the Istanbul Metropolitan Area. Shuttlebus companies such as Havaist[81] along with express public buses E10 and E11 operated by İETT[82] serve Taksim and Kadıköy and there are coaches to nearby towns and cities.

Accidents and incidents

  • On 23 December 2015, at approximately 2:00 AM, explosions were reported to have occurred in a parked Pegasus Airlines aircraft, killing one cleaner and wounding another inside the plane. Five nearby planes were reported to be damaged as well. The operations were reported to continue normally soon after, however with heightened security measures in place.[83] Three days later, it was reported that militant group Kurdistan Freedom Falcons had organized the attack.[84]
  • On 7 January 2020, a plane operated as Pegasus Airlines flight 747, a Boeing 737-800, suffered a runway excursion after landing. Passengers evacuated the aircraft using slides. No fatalities or injuries occurred.[85]
  • On 5 February 2020, a Boeing 737-800, registration TC-IZK, operated as Pegasus Airlines Flight 2193, skidded off the end of Runway 06, leading to an airport shutdown.[86] There were 177 passengers and 6 crew on board. Three people were killed, another 179 were injured.

See also

References

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