Azerbaijan, Baku, 29 May / Trend, R. Hafizoglu /
Ataturk Airport does not meet the needs of the country, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said while speaking at the laying of a third bridge over the Bosphorus, TRT Haber reported on Wednesday.
According to Erdogan, flights are often delayed at this airport because of its insufficient capacity.
He also added that the new airport to be built in Istanbul will meet all modern standards and the needs of the state.
An agreement for the construction of a third airport in Istanbul was signed on May 20 in Turkey between the Ministry of Transport, Shipping and Communications of Turkey and the Limak-Kolin-Cengiz-MaPa-Kalyon Consortium, which won the tender for the construction of the airport.
The Limak-Kolin-Cengiz-MaPa-Kalyon consortium won the tender for the project on May 3, offering 22.1 billion Euros for the project.
Following the signing of an agreement, the consortium will create a company to build the airport and clarify the size of the airport's territory.
The third airport in Istanbul will be built near Lake Terkos in the north of the city.
Earlier, the Air Transport Department of the Turkish Ministry of Transport, Shipping and Communications told Trend that the construction of the third airport in Istanbul would cost 10 billion Lira.
The ministry also said the airport will be able to serve 90 million people a year initially. In future, this figure will increase to 150 million.