Big move to Istanbul Airport set to start Friday

<p>By Ugur Aslanhan</p> <p>ISTANBUL (AA) – The big switch from Ataturk Airport to the new mega-Istanbul Airport will start early Friday morning, Turkey’s transport and infrastructure minister said on Wednesday.</p> <p>Starting on April 5 at 3.00 a.m. local time (0000GMT), the initial moving operation will take a total of 45 hours, Cahit Turhan told at a news conference in Istanbul. </p> <p>Turhan said all flights at both airports will be cut off at the same time for a period of 12 hours.</p> <p>&quot;The last flight at Ataturk Airport will be done on April 6 at 2.00 a.m. local time [April 5, 2300GMT]. </p> <p>&quot;Flights at Istanbul Airport will increase gradually as of April 6 at 2.00 p.m. local time [1100GMT].&quot; </p> <p>He told how currently some 300 planes take off and land at Ataturk Airport every day, while last year it served a total of 465,000 planes. </p> <p>Within five years Istanbul Airport will rank second in the global list of airports serving the most passengers, Turhan said. </p> <p>But once all its phases are completed, the airport will become a global aviation hub and rank first, he stressed. </p> <p>Istanbul Airport, the “world's new hub&quot;, officially opened on Oct. 29, 2018, the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic.</p> <p>* Writing by Tuba Sahin from Ankara</p>