Istanbul New Airport set to open on October 31

The new Istanbul’s new Airport is set to open for the first time on October 31. Construction of the new airport, on the European side of Istanbul, began in May 2015 at an estimated, cost of ing an estimated €7 billion.

Set to handle up to 150 million passengers per year, the new airport will be one of the largest in the world.

A short transitionary period will see airlines moving their flights across from Turkish Airlines’s current hub, Atatürk Airport, to the new airport.

All commercial flights will stop operating from Atatürk Airport on midnight October 30. The airport will remain open for cargo operations, as well as for business and general aviation movements.

With the opening of the new airport, Istanbul will have three major airports. As well as Atatürk Airport, the city is home to Sabiha Gökçen Airport.

Both Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen are home to large numbers of business jets.

According to a blog post on uas.aero, business- jet operators will have the choice of using any of the three airports.

During the transition period, UAS says reports, that both Atatürk and Istanbul New Airport, will both see temporary closures and periods of limited operations for business aircraft.

The Istanbul New Airport will open on time, despite recent strikes by airport construction workers.

According to Human Rights Watch, the international non-governmental organiszation that conducts research and advocacy on human rights, at least 38 workers at the new airport have died in work-related accidents or due to health problems.

Unions have long been complaining about poor safety and working conditions at the construction site.

Protests broke out earlier in this September following an accident involving a bus shuttling workers from the construction site to their temporary accommodation in which 17 workers were injured.

Hundreds of protestors were rounded up in the middle of September. A total of 24 protestors and union activists remain in prison.