Minister Uraloğlu: “The official opening of our Çukurova International Airport will be on August 10.”

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that the official opening of Çukurova International Airport will take place on August 10 with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: “With an investment of 244.5 million euros, we will obtain a rental income of 297 million 100 thousand euros from our Çukurova airport within 25 years. Çukurova Airport will be Turkey’s gateway to the Middle Eastern countries,” he said.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu conducted inspections at Çukurova International Airport, built on an area of 800 hectares, and made a press statement.
Emphasizing that they are nearing completion at Çukurova International Airport, Minister Uraloğlu said, “We plan to hold the official opening of our Çukurova International Airport, which has an annual capacity of 9 million passengers and can accommodate the largest aircraft, on Saturday, August 10, with the attendance of our President. As is known, Turkey is located in a key position at the intersection of three continents and is situated on flight routes between developed and developing markets. As Turkey, we have a significant and magnificent location at the center of 67 countries with a population of 1.4 billion people within a 4-hour flight time. Since 2002, we have opened our aviation sector to private enterprises, creating a competitive environment. We have built new airports, especially Istanbul Airport, thus increasing the number of active airports in domestic flights from 26 to 57. Within our 2053 goals, we will increase the current number of 57 active airports to 61. The number of countries with which we have air transport agreements has increased from 81 to 174, and while we were flying to 60 points in 50 countries in 2002, today we have reached 346 points in 131 countries. In 2023, 214 million people traveled through our 57 airports. We anticipate exceeding this number this year,” he stated.
“Our country ranked 6th with an average of 3,959 flights per day”
Minister Uraloğlu noted that the European Air Navigation Safety Organization (Eurocontrol) announced its European Aviation Overview Report, stating that between July 15-21, our country ranked 6th in Europe with an average of 3,959 flights per day, following Italy in terms of traffic volume. Istanbul Airport maintained its position as the busiest airport in Europe with an average of 1,485 flights per day. Antalya Airport ranked 8th in the same list with an average of 1,036 flights per day. Just two days ago, Antalya Airport served a total of 217,141 passengers and 1,186 aircraft for both domestic and international flights, breaking the record for 2024. In the evaluation of aircraft departures from the world’s best 25 global airports, Istanbul Airport ranked 7th globally.
“Çukurova International Airport has been one of the best products of a high vision”
Minister Uraloğlu emphasized that Çukurova International Airport is one of the most significant infrastructure investments in the aviation sector due to its regional nature, stating, “It is a well-known fact that Regional Airports significantly contribute to the country’s service exports and the service sector of the region where they are built. The fact that they have been established to serve 2 or 3 cities simultaneously is also very beneficial for the efficient use of national resources. Until today, Ordu-Giresun and Rize-Artvin Airports have been beautiful examples of this approach. We are also rapidly continuing our projects for Bayburt-Gümüşhane Airport and Yozgat Airport, which are regional airports. We have provided a new terminal for Kayseri. We are also building a new terminal building for Malatya. Our work regarding the new airport in Trabzon is ongoing. Çukurova International Airport, which will serve Mersin and Adana, has been one of the most beautiful products of this high vision. As you know, Çukurova is one of the oldest centers of history, culture, and civilization. It also has the most fertile lands in the world. It is essential to develop transportation and communication routes for this magnificent region with such great potential and fertile lands to open it further to the world and add value to it. In this regard, to prevent our people in the region from waiting any longer for the opening of Çukurova International Airport, which both the people of Adana and Mersin are eagerly awaiting, we have quickly completed the infrastructure construction with our own resources,” he expressed.
“We will obtain 297 million 100 thousand euros in rental income within 25 years”
Continuing his speech, Uraloğlu stated, “We have constructed our main runway with a length of 3,500 meters and a width of 60 meters at CAT-II standard. This runway will allow even the largest passenger aircraft to land and take off. Additionally, as part of the infrastructure project, we have completed a secondary runway suitable for emergencies, which is also 3,500 meters long and 45 meters wide, 2 high-speed taxiways, terminal apron, cargo apron, special aircraft sector apron, 2 ground service vehicle parking areas, guard booths, and a surrounding security road. We have also completed the construction of our superstructure facilities, which are planned to be in three phases. In the last 12 days before the opening, we will carry out the final touches. The total closed area of phases 1 and 2 is 179,180 square meters, and phase 3 has a closed area of 35,000 square meters, making the total closed area 214,180 square meters. The total fixed investment cost of all phases is approximately 244 million 515 thousand euros. We will obtain 297 million 100 thousand euros in rental income from our airport, which has an investment of 244.5 million euros, within 25 years. As you can see, intensive cleaning and landscaping work is continuing. We have also completed the road works that provide the highway connection to our airport. We completed our road as a divided road standard with a length of 15.9 km, with a hot mix asphalt coating. As part of this project, we constructed a total of 6 single bridges with a length of 258 meters, 2 double bridges with a length of 90 meters, and an intersection with different levels of 127 meters. We will hold the opening on August 10 with the presence of our President,” he noted.
“It will be Turkey’s gateway to the Middle Eastern countries”
“I want to emphasize that Çukurova Airport will be Turkey’s gateway to the Middle Eastern countries,” said Uraloğlu. “It will facilitate businesses in the region to transport goods more quickly and efficiently by air, and it will ease the integration of local businesses into global supply chains. This will enhance the competitiveness of businesses in the region in the international arena by opening them to broader markets and increasing their export potentials. Air transportation helps ensure the uninterrupted operation of supply chains, especially by providing timely delivery of urgent and critical materials. Çukurova Region, known for its advanced agricultural activities, will now provide logistical advantages for transporting agricultural products and other perishable goods that require timely delivery. This also means optimizing production processes and reducing costs. Furthermore, when it becomes operational, it will contribute to the employment of approximately 3,000 people both directly and indirectly in the region and across the country. It will provide significant contributions to the surrounding provinces, especially Mersin and Adana, in terms of economy, trade, and tourism. We worked with all our might to reach these days and successes. We brought our vision projects to life one by one. We will continue to support all projects and services that respond to our nation’s needs to ensure the development of our country and its international hub status in aviation. With these thoughts, I conclude my remarks, thanking all the contractors and DHMİ employees who brought the construction work of Çukurova International Airport superstructure facilities to this stage, and wishing them continued success,” he concluded.
During his inspections, Minister Uraloğlu was accompanied by Mersin Governor Ali Hamza Pehlivan and the provincial protocol.