Ankara Esenboğa Havalimanı (ESB)
International Airport in Ankara was opened in 1955. In 2019, it served almost 14 million passengers. The name Esenboga comes from a village near Turkey’s capital. It can be translated as “happy bull”. The village was named after İsen Buga, Timur’s army warlord who settled its troops here before the battle of Ankara in 1402. In that battle, Timur’s army crushed the Ottomans led by Bayazid I.
Istanbul Airport
Istanbul Airport has a passenger capacity of approximately 150 million. There are no two separate terminals for domestic and international lines at Istanbul Airport. Operations are carried out on different piers (islands) under one roof. The walking distance between the two furthest points at Istanbul Airport is 2,130 m. The airport terminal is 1.3 million square meters. The total construction area is 76.5 million square meters.
Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Havalimanı (SAW)
International İstanbul Airport was opened in 2001. In 2019, 35,5 million people used it. It was named after one of Atatürk’s adopted daughters, the first female pilot in Turkey and the first female combat pilot in the world. She passed away on March 22, 2001, just 2,5 months after the airport named after her was opened.
Izmir Adnan Menderes Havalimanı (ADB)
The international airport in İzmir was opened in 1987. In 2019, over 13 million passengers used it. They named it after Adnan Menderes, who was a prime minister of the Turkish Republic from 1950 to 1960. After the military coup of 1960, he was accused of violating the constitution, arrested, and hanged in 1961. İn 1987 Adnan Menderes was pardoned and cleared of any misconduct.
Antalya Airport (AYT)
Antalya Airport is located 10 kilometers east of the city center of Antalya, the leading tourism and holiday center on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. The large and modern airport welcomes millions of domestic and foreign tourists who come to Turkey’s southern coasts, especially in summer. It is the second airport in Turkey in terms of total passenger traffic and the first airport in terms of international passenger traffic.
