Gov’t to build three new airports in Anatolian provinces

ANKARA

The government plans to build three more airports in the Anatolian provinces of Karaman, Yozgat and Bayburt-Gümüşhane in the coming period, Transport, Maritime and Communication Minister Ahmet Arslan has said.

“We will hold tenders for the construction of airports to be built in Karaman, Yozgat and Bayburt-Gümüşhane. By bringing planes to these cities, we will make 2017 the year of airports,” Arslan told state-run Anadolu Agency.

He said transportation is one of the most important components of a powerful, prosperous and promising country, and it is also a trigger for many other sectors.

“The greatest breakthroughs of republican history have been realized in transportation infrastructure under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım,” Arslan added.

Turkey is among the fastest growing countries in the aviation sector, he said, noting that while the international air transportation sector grew by 5.6 percent over the last decade, the sector grew by 14 percent in Turkey. The number of active airports rose over the last 14 years from 26 to 55, while existing airports are being renewed, he said.

“We do not want any citizen in our country to have a problem like not being able to reach the airlines, so we are trying to combine all our cities with airways, roads and railways,” Arslan said.

“We do not stop at the fact that we have doubled the number of active airports, we will be working on the construction of new airports, and the tender processes for three new airports will be completed this year,” he added.

Arslan said the tender for the Karaman and Yozgat airports are planned in July-September, while the tender process for the Bayburt-Gümüşhane airport, which will be a regional one, is planned to be launched in November-December.

Arslan noted that the three airports in question would be worth about 800 million liras ($228 million), while the construction works for a total capacity of 2 million passengers will have been completed by 2021.