Only very few airports are fast developing to become not just home away from home but home that serve your holistic work-life balance. One such airport is the new Istanbul airport, which has set itself apart from other airports to meeting your ‘every’ need.
Considered the largest airport in the world at 818 million square feet (25 percent larger than Manhattan), the Istanbul Airport has been lauded as one of the greatest engineering feats of the last two decades.
It was developed by a joint venture group called iGA, which includes several large Turkish contractors and other international companies. The airport’s design has also won numerous awards thanks to a large-scale design effort by three British firms: Grimshaw, Scott Brownrigg, and Haptic Architects, as well as Oslo-based practice Nordic, and two Turkish firms Fonksiyon and TAM/Kiklop.
Phase one of the project opened in April with three runways and 15 million square feet of terminal space. The remaining three phases are expected to be completed by 2025 and together will accommodate up to 200 million passengers annually.
Technology
The aviation sector is rapidly developing. Technology and efficiency are gradually gaining importance within the process. The Building Information Modelling (BIM) was developed so as to complete the Istanbul Airport Project in a timely and fault-free fashion and to create the entire project process from design to fabrication, construction, operations and maintenance.
The BIM model used in Istanbul airport ensured accessibility for information of all sizes for the use of various stakeholders.
It is interesting to know that more than 35,000 people worked in the construction site during the most hectic periods of the project. BIM technology offered a multi-dimensional information sharing process enabling all parties to examine the 3D model, realise conflicting elements, ambiguous or deficient designs, share their ideas during coordination of the model and monitor quality control processes. The technology was applied over an area of 76.5 million square meters and made history as the largest aviation design of the world.
The aesthetics
The roof of the terminal building was inspired by the grandmaster Sinan the Architect. Natural rays radiate into the indoor area through 461 dooms on the uppermost part of the roof. 500 roof materials each of which weighed 80 tons were used during the process.
Baggage handling systems
Length of the conveyor is 42 kilometers, check-in points are 566, capacity of Explosive Detection Systems (EDS) is 24 and capacity of Early Baggage Storage System (EBS) is 10,800 (For the phase one).
When the first phase of Istanbul airport offers services at full capacity, 48 robots within the EBS system will carry luggage into relevant shelves. Besides, 48 out of 76 carousels will be allocated for ground services personnel to pick up the luggage of departing passengers while the remaining 28 carousels will be used for the luggage of arriving passengers, (20 for narrow-body aircraft and eight for wide-body aircraft). Luggage of passengers entering through the terminal from departure floor will go down to transfer floor following check-in. They will be scanned through the X-ray device. If suspicions arise, the luggage will go down to arrival floor and may be checked by operators again. If the luggage proves to be ‘dirty’, it will be directed to the bomb detonation area.
The runways
Currently, there are three runways at the Istanbul airport. As the first phase is complete, two independent asphait-pavement runways with a length of 4,100 and 3,750 meters, respectively are serving at Istanbul Airport with a total width of 75 meters including a main part of 60 meters and a shoulder of 15 meters.
Besides, two auxiliary runways are present next to each main runway with a length of 4,100 and 3,750 meters, respectively and with a total width of 60 meters including a main part of 45 meters and a shoulder of 15 meters.
The runways of Istanbul Airport are suitable for the landing and take-off of the largest aircraft. For example, the runway with a length of 3,353 meters is sufficient for a380-800 and even the short runway of Istanbul airport.
AOCC, the centre of the airport
Istanbul airport hosts millions of passengers, tons of cargo and thousands of aircraft. To do this safely, the support of the state-of-the-art technology is required. The Airport Operations Control (AOCC) is an operational centre which combines cutting-edge technology and innovative vision with the existing, holistic structure to monitor operations at the Istanbul Airport 24/7 and take the required actions when necessary. The AOCC employs 120 personnel from various units and stakeholders who monitor and coordinate –at a single centre-safety, security and emergency services as well as all key functions of the airport including air traffic control and aircraft runway traffic in addition to the entire airport resource planning. This enables terminal, airside, technical services and IT units to work in full integration.
Information sharing
Despite the busy nature of the airport, passengers are kept abreast of their flight information. Passengers receive information regarding their boarding gates and flights through IGA mobile application. Traffic integration continuously provides instantaneous flight information during their airport journey. Passengers also arriving at the airport receive information on their check-in counters and boarding gates through this mobile application.
While waiting for the take-off of their aircraft within the airport, they use free-of-charge internet connection at the speed of 500 megabytes. It is easier to find vehicles parked at the airport by using the application ‘Where is my Car?.’ It is possible to access your car using the navigation system.
All these features show Istanbul airport as one of the most technological airports across the world and acting like a silk road connecting the entire world in digital terms.
Duty-Free
The Istanbul airport duty-free is 35,000 square meters of the 53,000 square meter area located at the international departure floor where the products of over 1000 brands are exhibited for all kinds of needs for passengers.
Inspired by the Bosporus, the duty free is divided into zones named after the neighbourhoods of the Bosporus such as Hog and Lux Hills with the most special brands of the world, family palace zone hosting Turkish brands, Turkish Bazaar offering traditional delicacies and products, jewellery zone housing jewellery stores as well as fashion garden and style beach.
Each zone welcomes passengers with the concept-related brands offering a rich variety of products. A very wide range of products from local and foreign luxury, premium and affordable fashion brands to accessory, jewellery and watch brands, children’s wears, toys, home textile and electronic products are offered to guests.
Business-class Lounges
The Turkish Airlines Business Lounge is open to all Star Alliance business class passengers. The lounge is open 24/7 operated. The Turkish Airlines Business Lounge is located near gate E1, which is near the centre of the massive terminal of the new Istanbul Airport.
Once inside the lounge, passengers will be facing a massive TV screen, showing a bunch of scenery of Istanbul, and scenes from Turkish’s recent short film. Just inside and to the left are some storage lockers. This means passengers don’t have to worry about your belongings being stolen while you roam around the lounge.
Also near the entrance to the lounge are wifi kiosks. Passengers have to scan your boarding pass, and then they will get a receipt with a username and password to access the wifi.
Inside the lounge and to the left is some seating, consisting mostly of white leather chairs. These seats look very similar to what they had in the lounge at the old airport, so I’m not sure if they transported them over, or if they just ordered the same ones.
Just inside the entrance and to the right is a self-playing piano. The set up at the centre part of the lounge is amazing. It has dining tables as well as an open kitchen concept, adding some flair to the lounge with this. Along the side of the lounge there are some more seats.
There are a few private conference rooms too. Then along the other side of the lounge is some seating in a darker room. This is cosy, and a nice change from the rest of the lounge. Then there was a really cute play area for kids, including an awesome plane model you could play in.
Turkish Airlines is known for the spectacular food in their lounges, and this lounge is no exception.
The food selection includes a mix of self-serve buffets, live cooking stations where you could custom order, and open kitchens where dishes were being prepared, and passenger could serve themself
