Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu spoke at the 8th World Airports Experience Summit organized by ACI World in Istanbul. Minister Uraloğlu said, "Today's societies are aware that time is the most precious and scarce resource that can neither be returned, nor stored, nor stopped. The reason why this fact permeates every aspect of our lives is undoubtedly the dizzying development of the aviation industry. Because air transportation is not only a means of reaching from one point to another, it is also the strongest basis for the rapprochement of nations, the integration of economies and the common construction of the future." He made a statement.
Uraloğlu underlined that aviation is not just a mode of transportation and said that it is a matter of vision that determines the global competitiveness of countries and directs the future. Uraloğlu made the following statements in his statement:
"At this point, we come across the most critical link that connects the strategic power of airline transportation to the earth: airports... These facilities, which embody the bond of a country with the sky and are the gateway of nations to each other, are not just structures where planes land and take off; they are gates of civilization where trade, culture and human relations meet. Building an airport today is not just about creating a structure made of concrete and steel; it is about building a door that opens to the future, drawing a new route that will take you to the center of the world. As a matter of fact, a strong airport network is needed." "The nations that have it are also among the determining actors of world trade."
Expressing that Türkiye has crowned its unique position with the giant airport projects it has implemented in the last 24 years, Uraloğlu said, "It has become a real crossroads connecting continents with 356 international flight destinations in 133 countries. Our modern airport infrastructure, which spreads all over our country, especially Istanbul Airport, is a concrete indicator of not only passenger and freight transportation, but also our country's global vision and regional leadership claim." he said.
He stated that Türkiye's being one of the fastest developing countries in the world, with its air transportation policies and activities carried out since 2002 under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, played a role in this success. Uraloğlu continued his words as follows:
"First of all, opening domestic passenger transportation to competition is a milestone for our aviation industry. We increased the number of active airports, which was 26 in 2002, to 58 by renovating 16 inactive airports and building 16 new airports. We put an average of 1.4 airports into service every year. We do not leave our number of airports here. We will soon increase the number to 60 with the airports under construction. 'There is no point in the world that we cannot reach. Acting with the goal of 'It will not remain', we have transformed our country into one of the countries with the largest flight network in the world. We increased the number of countries with which we have Air Transport Agreements from 81 to 175. Thus, while there are flights to 60 destinations in 50 countries, we added 296 new destinations to our flight network, bringing it to 356 destinations in 133 countries."
Explaining that they increased the number of passengers traveling on domestic and international lines, which was approximately 34.5 million in 2002, to 247 million passengers in 2025, breaking the record in the history of the Republic, Uraloğlu said, "We have risen to the 3rd place in Europe and the 7th place in the world. Our Istanbul Airport stands before us as the most magnificent symbol of this success and one of the leaders of the sky." he said.
Uraloğlu said that Istanbul Airport is not just a terminal building; Emphasizing that it is the sky-high version of engineering and the claim of the Turkish Century, he said, "Our Istanbul Airport has once again become the busiest airport in Europe, leaving behind important centers such as Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam and London Heathrow, with an average of 1,665 flights per day. In the same period, it ranked 6th in the world with an average of 843 aircraft departures per day among 25 global airports. And even more... On August 16, 2026, our Istanbul Airport was opened with 1,739 flights per day." "With 290 thousand 287 passengers, it reached the highest daily number of flights and passengers of all time in Turkey and Europe, and broke a new record in both the number of flights and passengers. Again, 3 days ago on August 30, we renewed our record by carrying out 1787 flights." he said.
Emphasizing that İGA Istanbul Airport has renewed the 5th level, the highest level in the ACI World Airport Customer Experience Accreditation, Uraloğlu continued his words as follows:
"Our flag carrier in the skies, Turkish Airlines, maintains its position as the airline that flies to the most countries in the world; it is growing as a global transfer and direct destination center with the opportunities offered by Istanbul Airport. Turkey, on the other hand, has risen to the 6th place among the countries with the highest traffic volume in Europe with an average of 4,400 flights per day, leaving behind countries such as Greece, Poland, the Netherlands and Portugal. These figures are not a coincidence. These records are the concrete reflection of planned investments, determined will and the goal that there will be no point in the world that we cannot reach."
Reminding that they have achieved a first in Europe with the triple independent runway operation at Istanbul Airport, Uraloğlu said, "We have made history as the country that implemented this application after the USA. Now we are taking another step. We have reached the final stage of our work on the 4th main runway of Istanbul Airport. We aim to start operation of our runway, which is 2 thousand 820 meters long and 45 meters wide on the east-west axis, after technical tests, in the coming days. Thus, we will further develop the infrastructure suitable for increasing passenger and flight traffic." "We will strengthen and make Istanbul Airport's leadership permanent." He made a statement.
Emphasizing that the passenger experience at our airports is at the center of operations, Uraloğlu continued his words as follows:
"We constantly increase passenger satisfaction with our free Wi-Fi, water dispensers, baby care and children's playgrounds, and accessibility certificates. We are also a pioneer in sustainability, with the majority of our airports having carbon accreditation. With the Free Route Airspace application, we save fuel, time and emissions, and increase our air navigation capacity with local and national technologies. All these steps show that for us, the airport is not just an airport where planes land and take off, but also the passenger's time, safety, comfort and "It is a field of vision where the responsibility we feel towards our planet becomes concrete."
