The full opening of Istanbul Airport has been delayed once again by one month, Hurriyet has reported. The new Turkish gateway is now due to open on April 5, 2019, although it will remain closed to foreign airlines until two days later.
The airport was originally due to open at the end of October 2018. However, due to delays in the construction process, at that time flag carrier Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Airport) relocated only a few routes operated by narrowbody aircraft to the new airport, keeping the bulk of its operations at Istanbul Atatürk.
The full opening was initially delayed to December 31, then to March 3, 2019, and now to early April.
Under the announced plan, the transfer of operations to the new gateway will begin at 0300L on April 5 and will last for 45 hours. During that time, both airports will only be available to base Turkish carriers who will be limited to 35 arrivals and 35 departures per hour. Foreign airlines will not be allowed to operate to Istanbul between the beginning of the transfer and 0000L on April 7.
According to the ch-aviation capacity module, Turkish Airlines remains the only airline to serve the new airport. It currently operates 105 weekly departures out of Istanbul New using B737-800, A320, and A321 aircraft types. It flies to 22 destinations, of which 13 are domestic. Turkish Airlines' international network out of the new airport currently includes services to Frankfurt International, Lefkosa, Tbilisi, Ashgabat, Baku Heydar Aliev International, Kuwait, London Gatwick, Moscow Vnukovo, Munich, and Paris CDG.
