The Sabiha Gokcen International Airport: A Sign of Progressive Turkey

If you are flying to Istanbul for first time and you are looking for any sign proving what you have learnt previously about Turkey  that Turkey is a country that is about to emerge as an economic powerhouse in Europe  you can look too close. All you need is looking your surroundings at the moment you land at the airport. Chances are that you have landed at the Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SAW). SAW is the best proof that can show Turkeys economic progress.

Istanbul had a growing need for a bigger international airport and SAW is a response to this need. Previously, Ataturk International Airport (IST) was the only international airport of Istanbul. However, as IST was built in the 1970s, its facilities have become outmoded. Number of airline passengers flying to Istanbul is growing orderly. And IST is too small to accommodate this growing number.

Sabiha G￶k￧en was Turkeys first female aviator and SAW was named in honor of Sabiha Gokcen who was also the first ever female to become a combat pilot. In 1996, Sabiha Gokcen was honored by the United States Air Force as one of the 20 greatest aviators in history. Destinies of Sabiha G￶k￧en and SAW look like each other, just like Sabiha Gokcen, SAW is a sign of progressive of Turkey which help Turkey reach for greater heights in economic progress, with its increased capacity for domestic and international travel.

SAW which is the second international airport for Istanbul has a capacity of 3 million passengers per year for international travel and 500,000 passengers per year for domestic travel. It has two terminals, one of these terminals is for international flights and the other is for domestic flights.

Total area of the international flights terminal is 20,000 square meters. Two floors divide this area in two with the ground floor having an area of 16,000 square meters and the mezzanine level at 4,000 square meters. The state-of-the-art facilities, VIP lounges, bars, cafes, restaurants and duty-free shops fit the mezzanine level.

Total area of the domestic flights terminal, on the other hand, is 2,000 square meters. Domestic passengers can find a cafeteria to serve them in this area. The cargo terminal is also found here.

Many airlines make use of SAWs facilities. You can find the airlines being serviced by SAW in the followings:

" Aerotur Airlines  Aktau and Taraz " AMC Airlines  Cairo " Condor Airlines  Frankfurt and Munich " Corendon Airlines  Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Tel Aviv, Eindhoven " easyJet  Basel/Mulhouse, London " Germanwings  Berlin-Schonefeld, Cologne, Bonn, Dortmund and Stuttgart " Jazeera Airways  Kuwait " MyAir  Milan " Norwegian Air Shuttle  Oslo and Stockholm " Pegasus Airlines " SkyEurope  Bratislava " SunExpress  Berlin and Schonefeld " TUIfly  Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Hanover

Naturally, Turkish airlines are being serviced in SAW too. Turkish Airlines flies domestically from SAW to Ankara, Antalya, Bodrum, Izmir and Dalaman. It has international destinations include Cologne, Berlin, Hanover and Nuremberg.

Istanbuls newest international airport is SAW and it is the shape of things to come for Turkey.

About The Author Cane Williams from KonutKredileri.com, the contributor of Ucuz Konut Kredileri. More information on the subject is at The Sabiha Gokcen International Airport: A Sign of Progressive Turkey, and related resources can be found at Konut Kredileri ve Mortgage Konusundaki Gncel Haberler.