Flag carrier Turkish Airlines has announced that it will be ending all scheduled flights at Atatürk Airport as of April 6 at 02:00 am as it relocates to its new home, the recently opened Istanbul Airport.

The great move to Istanbul Airport, which will take 45 hours to complete, will begin on April 5 at 03:00 am and conclude on April 6 at 23:59.

Atatürk Airport and Istanbul Airport will be closed for all scheduled passenger flights between 02:00 and 14:00 on April 6.

The airline will resume all flight operations planned for Atatürk Airport from its new home Istanbul Airport as of 2 pm local time on April 6, it said in a statement.

During the Great Move, equipment weighing approximately 47,300 tons will be carried from Atatürk Airport to Istanbul Airport - from aircraft towing apparatus weighing 44 tons to extremely sensitive materials, over 10,000 pieces of equipment (equal to freight of 5,000 trucking rigs) will be transferred to the new airport.  The distance covered by the trucking rigs carrying this load is calculated to be at 400,000 kilometres - equal to circling the Earth 10 times. Over 1,800 personnel will be working during this great operation.

The last flight carrying passengers from Ataturk Airport will be the Atatürk Airport – Singapore flight. After the move, operations will start in Istanbul Airport on April 6 at 14:00. The first flight after the "great move" will be the Istanbul Airport – Ankara Esenboğa Airport flight.

The new airport was officially inaugurated on October 29, 2018, which also marks the 95th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey.

Once fully completed, Istanbul Airport will have the capacity to serve 200 million passengers annually. - TradeArabia News Service