New International Airport Opens in Turkey‘s Mersin
A new international airport, Çukurova International Airport (COV), opened today in Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Mersin. The airport has a capacity to handle 9 million passengers annually.
President Erdogan hails the airport as a “world-class project”:
“Today we are opening not only an airport, but also a new, modern aesthetic gateway to the whole world,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the opening ceremony. “We see that our airport is a world-class project.”
Features and capacity:
Capacity: 9 million passengers per year
2 buildings: passenger terminal and cargo terminal
Passenger terminal area: 110,000 sqm
Total enclosed area: 214,180 m2
2 runways, each 3,500 meters long
Expected impact:
Serves Mersin and Adana regions
Estimated 5 million passengers from nearby cities to use the airport
Creates over 3,000 jobs
Increased air travel in Turkey:
The new airport opening coincides with strong passenger traffic in Turkey. Over 129 million passengers were transported through Turkish airports in the first 7 months of this year, and the number is expected to exceed 230 million by year’s end.