Turkish Minister of Transport and
Infrastructure Cahit Turhan announced that the metro line between the "Gayrettepe" district and the new
Istanbul airport will be completed by the end of 2019.
Turhan said during a presentation on the ministry budget for 2019 ahead of the Plan and Budget Committee of the Turkish Parliament, the length of the line will be 37.5 km and will include 9 stations and has been completed by 23%, noting that the "Halkali" airport line extends over 27 kilometers and consists of 6 Stations will be completed in 2020.
In the meantime, passengers will be able to
reach the airport using Istanbul public buses.
According to Turhan, the Ministry of
Transport and Infrastructure aims to raise its budget by 26% this year, has
added its current projects provides 281.000 new job opportunity to the Turkish
economy.
The Ministry's major infrastructure projects
includes Istanbul New Canal, the Commercial Railroad (Commercial Silk Road),
the ever-expanding high-speed rail network and Istanbul's 3-storey tunnel,
which will be the first integrated metro and railway project in the world.
During the AKP period, since 2002 until
today, the number of airports in Turkey has increased by 115%, its capacity has
increased by 486%, the number of flights has increased by 59%, aircrafts by
219%, international flights by 427% Cargo capacity increased by 550%.
Istanbul airport, which was officially opened
on Oct. 29, will replace Ataturk International Airport as the main flight
station in the country's most populated city.
The airport will have an annual capacity of
150 million passengers once the final phase of four expansion phases is
completed and can eventually be expanded to handle 200 million passengers
annually in the coming years.
The airport is expected to generate revenues
of more than $ 15 billion for the Turkish economy, in addition to providing
more than 225.000 jobs.