TURKEY. Airport consortium İGA Havalimanı İşletmesi (IGA) has awarded an Airport Operations Consultancy Services agreement to Incheon International Airport Corp, in partnership with Copenhagen Airports International, to help deliver its New Istanbul Airport project.
The five-year consultancy project includes strategy and business plan development, human resources and organisational development, operational readiness through trial operations, and consultancy on the new airport’s operation in the first three years after its opening in 2017.
 |
Incheon International Airport Corp CEO Park Wan Su and Copenhagen Airports CEO Thomas Woldbye seal the deal |
Commenting on the new cooperation, IGA CEO Mertol Genc noted: “We are pleased to reach an agreement with the world’s foremost airport operators at this stage of development. For us, creating scale with utmost traveller comfort is a priority. Incheon and Copenhagen provide us expertise in attaining our scale, comfort, innovation, efficiency and profitability objectives, which will enhance the passenger experience.
“Besides these, their presence as strong international operators provides further proof that IGA is already up and running in the eyes of the global aviation business. This cooperation is very significant for us and for the Turkish aviation industry since we aim to build a global hub connecting all continents and make our country and Istanbul the centre in the global aviation industry.”
The Operations Consultancy will run in four phases. The first will address strategic operational and commercial issues relating to the airport development process. Phase two will focus on addressing building and training an appropriate management organisational workforce.
The third phase will address Operations Readiness and Transfer (ORAT). Phase four covers the first three years of operation. In addition to IGA’s obligations under the Concession Agreement signed with the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI), the consultants will provide full-time senior experts on-site to deal with airside, terminal and landside operations, as well airline marketing and hub strategy.
Incheon International Airport Corp CEO Park Wan Su commented: “We, Incheon Airport, are honoured to have this consultancy opportunity for”¦Istanbul New Airport. As Incheon Airport we shall truly and sincerely do our best in close cooperation with Copenhagen Airport to contribute to the successful construction and operation of this hub. Incheon Airport’s [long] experience of construction and operation will create another remarkable history of Istanbul New Airport in Turkey. Also, this project will be the base for the further development of overseas business of Incheon Airport.”
Copenhagen Airports CEO Thomas Woldbye added: “Copenhagen Airport has been voted “˜Europe’s most efficient airport’ by the international Air Transport Research Society (ATRS) nine times in the last 11 years and we have a long history of developing international airports in Denmark, China, Mexico and Great Britain.
“When we team up with Incheon Airport we hope that our combined knowledge will help Istanbul in building and operating an international competitive airport.”
About İstanbul New Airport
İGA Havalimanı İşletmesi A.Ş was founded on 7 October 2013 to make the investment for and then to operate the Istanbul New Airport for a period of 25 years. The tender for the New Airport, which will be built 35 km away from the city centre in the North of Istanbul, was initiated by the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI) in 2013. The construction will be completed in four phases. The first phase, which includes one terminal with a capacity of 90 million annual passengers, and three runways, will be delivered by the end of 2017. When all the phases are complete, the New Airport will have an annual passenger capacity of 150 million during the concession term. It will host more than 150 airlines flying to more than 350 destinations.
