A consortium of Turkish construction firms made the winning 22 billion euro ($29 billion) bid yesterday to build and operate a third airport in Istanbul, which Turkey hopes will become one of the world's largest by passenger numbers.

The consortium of Cengiz, Kolin, Limak, Mapa and Kalyon bid 22.15bn euros for the build-operate-transfer project, which includes a 25-year lease, outbidding rivals including TAV Holding and Germany's Fraport.

The project reflects the emergence of Istanbul, Europe's largest city straddling Europe and Asia, as a major regional transport hub in tandem with the country's economic rise over the past decade.

"Such an airport ... will carry Turkey to a different level on the international stage," said Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking to carve out a greater role for Turkey on the international stage.

The airport will have six runways and eventually be able to handle 150 million passengers per year.-Reuters