Istanbul Airport gets 4th main, 1st east-west-oriented runway

Türkiye is opening the fourth main runway at Istanbul Airport on Friday, with officials saying it will reduce taxiing and airborne times while helping airlines save fuel.

The new east-west runway is the airport’s first operating in that direction.

Istanbul Airport currently has three main and two reserve runways oriented north-south. The new runway brings the total number of runways to six, including four main runways.

The hub is ultimately planned to have nine runways, comprising six main and three reserve runways.

The new runway is 2,820 meters long and 45 meters wide.

It will be used particularly for flights to Anatolia, Central Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said Thursday.

Because aircraft will be able to take off in an east-west direction, they will no longer need to turn east again after departure, he said.

This is expected to reduce taxiing and airborne times, resulting in savings in fuel and time. The runway is expected to be particularly useful for domestic and eastbound routes.

The new east-west runway will initially be used only for takeoffs, according to officials. The airport also plans to introduce simultaneous four-runway operations in the future.

Istanbul Airport began simultaneous independent triple-parallel runway operations in April 2025, becoming the first airport in Europe to do so.

The gleaming glass-and-steel structure along the Black Sea coast has become one of the world’s most important transit centers since becoming fully operational in April 2019.

Istanbul has overtaken London Heathrow to become the world’s most internationally connected airport, a report by global travel intelligence partner OAG said Wednesday.

It has possible connections to 337 global destinations, with national flag carrier Turkish Airlines operating 80% of flights at the airport, the report said.

Istanbul, meanwhile, recently overtook Heathrow as Europe’s busiest airport by passenger numbers. Industry groups and officials, including the London hub’s CEO himself, had been expecting that to happen this year or the next.

The hub can handle 90 million passengers annually in the current phase. The figure is nothing compared to its potential capacity to serve 200 million after completing all phases.

Istanbul Airport served a record 84.5 million passengers in 2025, making it the second-busiest airport in Europe after London Heathrow and the eighth-busiest worldwide.

It aims to reach the 90 million-passenger mark this year.

The number of active airports Türkiye has risen to 58 from 26 in 2002, with the government renovating 16 previously inactive airports and building 16 new ones.

The number is expected to reach 60 as airports currently under construction are completed.

Passenger traffic on domestic and international routes rose to a record 247 million in 2025, putting Türkiye third in Europe and seventh globally.

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