By: AGBI

Turkey is planning a new offshore airport along the Black Sea as part of the government’s long-term infrastructure development plan.

“We have designed the third airport in Turkey, which will be built on the sea, further north than the current (Trabzon) airport,” the state-owned Andalou Agency reported, quoting transport and infrastructure minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu.

He, however, clarified that the airport construction will not happen anytime soon, but rather within a “more reasonable timeframe”. No financial details were given.

Ankara has already built the Rize-Artvin Airport and the Ordu-Giresun Airport off the Black Sea coast.

Meanwhile, upgrades at Trabzon Airport, including new international terminals, a terminal for commercially important persons, and supporting facilities, are nearing completion. Once finalised, these developments are expected to boost the airport’s capacity to 140-160 flights per day.

In January Uraloğlu said passenger traffic at Turkish airports grew by 7.5 percent year on year to more than 230 million in 2024.

The number of aircraft movements, including landings and take-offs, rose five percent annually to 2.3 million, with more than 902,000 domestic flights and 866,800 international flights.

Daily flight arrivals in Istanbul airport surpassed major European airports such as Amsterdam, London and Paris in 2024, making it the continent’s busiest.

Turkey was ranked sixth among European countries with the busiest traffic volume, with an average of 3,140 daily flights.