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 Turkey’s 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 Gökçen was Turkey’s 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 Gökçen 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 SAW’s 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.

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