How Istanbul Moved Its Airport in Just 45 Hours

How Istanbul Moved Its Airport in Just 45 Hours

The Incredible Logistical Feat of Relocating a Massive Airport Across a Megacity

In the early hours of April 5th, 2019, Istanbul’s main airport, Atatürk International Airport, was a bustling hub of activity. But just 45 hours later, this airport had been completely shut down and relocated to a brand new facility – the Istanbul Airport.

The sheer scale and speed of this airport relocation is nothing short of astounding. Atatürk International Airport was handling over 64 million passengers per year, making it one of the busiest airports in the world. Yet in less than two days, the entire operation was moved to a brand new $8 billion airport facility located across the city.

How did they pull this off? It required years of meticulous planning, the coordination of thousands of workers, and the execution of a complex logistical ballet. Let’s dive into the details of this incredible feat of logistics.

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The Motivation Behind the Move

Atatürk International Airport had been Istanbul’s main airport for 86 years, but it was bursting at the seams. Designed for a much smaller capacity, the airport was struggling to handle the ever-increasing passenger traffic. There was no room for expansion, and the airport couldn’t even accommodate the largest passenger jets like the Airbus A380.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saw the new airport as a way to flex Turkey’s growing economic and geopolitical might on the global stage. The $8 billion price tag was a massive investment, but Erdogan believed a state-of-the-art mega-airport would cement Istanbul’s status as a major international hub.

“Turkish president Erdogan believed a state-of-the-art mega-airport would cement Istanbul’s status as a major international hub.”

The new Istanbul Airport was designed to handle up to 90 million passengers per year, dwarfing the capacity of the old Atatürk facility. This would allow Istanbul to compete with other major aviation hubs like Dubai, London, and Paris.

The Massive Logistical Undertaking

Planning for the airport relocation began over 2 years in advance. Thousands of meetings were held between government officials, logistics firms, and other stakeholders to meticulously coordinate every aspect of the move.

Three separate crisis management centers were set up to respond to any issues that arose during the 45-hour relocation period. The sheer scale of the operation is staggering:

10,459 pieces of ground service equipment were moved, covering 262 acres
1,557 vehicles, mostly large container trucks, were used to transport the equipment
If lined up end-to-end, the convoy of trucks would have stretched 50 miles
An additional 620 smaller vehicles like cars and buses also assisted in the move
5,000 people worked around the clock to execute the relocation

But the most impressive part was that all of this was accomplished while both airports remained partially operational for the first 45 hours. No commercial passenger flights were allowed at the new Istanbul Airport during this period, but transfer flights were permitted to move planes from Atatürk to the new facility.

“The sheer scale of the operation is staggering – 10,459 pieces of equipment, 1,557 vehicles, and 5,000 workers.”

At the start of the relocation period at 3am on April 5th, only transfer flights were allowed at Istanbul Airport. Commercial passenger flights continued at Atatürk, but with a strict limit of 70 arrivals and departures per hour across both airports.

Over the next 14 hours, the first convoys of trucks began moving equipment from Atatürk to Istanbul Airport. The first transfer flight took off at 8am, and by 5pm the highway to Istanbul Airport was closed to all other traffic to allow the relocation convoys unimpeded access.

At 7pm, the first major convoy arrived at Istanbul Airport, and by 2:44am on April 6th, Atatürk had handled its final passenger flight. From that point on, Atatürk was relegated to only cargo, state, and other specially permitted flights.

By 8am on April 6th, the 188th and final transfer flight had landed at Istanbul Airport, and the physical relocation was complete. Just 3 hours later, passengers were already waiting at the new airport for their flights.

The Precision Execution

The level of coordination and precision required to pull off this relocation in just 45 hours is mind-boggling. Every step of the process was meticulously planned and executed with military-like discipline.

Some key elements of the precision execution:

All 10,459 pieces of equipment were carefully loaded, tracked, and unloaded at the new facility
Vehicles were searched twice – once at the gate and again in a separate search area – to ensure safety and security
Oversized equipment that couldn’t fit under toll booths was rerouted around the highway
Air traffic was tightly controlled, with only 70 arrivals/departures per hour across both airports
Turkish Airlines was given exclusive rights to operate commercial flights from Istanbul Airport for the first 3 hours after the relocation was complete

The timing of the relocation was also meticulously planned. The 45-hour window was chosen to minimize disruption, with the final handover of the airports happening at 2:59am on April 6th. This allowed the new Istanbul Airport to begin commercial operations later that morning, with Turkish Airlines’ first flight taking off at 2pm.

“The level of coordination and precision required to pull off this relocation in just 45 hours is mind-boggling.”

In the first week after the move, air traffic at the old Atatürk Airport was limited to just 10 arrivals and departures per hour, while Istanbul Airport ramped up to 70 per hour. This gradual transition period allowed the new airport to get up and running smoothly.

The Results and Aftermath

The relocation was an overwhelming success. Within the first year, Istanbul Airport was already handling 76 million passengers annually – 12 million more than Atatürk had before the move.

The new airport’s capacity of 90 million passengers per year dwarfs the old Atatürk facility, allowing Istanbul to cement its status as a major global aviation hub. In fact, the airport’s success has been so impressive that the project’s coordinator joked they should consider starting a moving company instead of an airport.

Of course, the project wasn’t without its controversies. The $8 billion price tag was a massive investment, and there were reports of worker deaths during the airport’s construction. The true fatality count is still disputed, with the government claiming 27 deaths, while other sources estimate it could be as high as 400.

Regardless of the controversies, the relocation of Istanbul’s main airport in just 45 hours stands as an incredible logistical achievement. It’s a testament to the power of meticulous planning, coordination, and execution – even for a project of such massive scale.

If you’re interested in learning more about this incredible feat, be sure to check out Half as Interesting’s video on the topic. And if you want to support more great content like this, consider signing up for Nebula, the streaming platform created by Half as Interesting and other top YouTube creators.

Key Takeaways How Istanbul Moved Its Airport in Just 45 Hours

Atatürk International Airport was struggling to handle Istanbul’s growing passenger traffic, leading to the construction of a new $8 billion mega-airport
Planning for the 45-hour relocation began over 2 years in advance, involving thousands of meetings and the coordination of 5,000 workers
The sheer scale of the move was staggering – 10,459 pieces of equipment, 1,557 vehicles, and a convoy that would have stretched 50 miles
Air traffic was tightly controlled, with only 70 arrivals/departures per hour across both airports during the relocation
The new Istanbul Airport opened to commercial flights just 3 hours after the final transfer flight landed, a testament to the precision execution
In the first year, Istanbul Airport was already handling 12 million more passengers per year than the old Atatürk facility