Minister Karaismailoglu, at the Groundbreaking Ceremony of Malatya Airport New Terminal Building, said “As the Ministry, we are implementing our giant projects, each of which is strategic steps, with the aim of making Turkey one of the world’s largest economies.”
Karaismailoglu, in his speech at Malatya Airport New Terminal Building Groundbreaking, stated that Malatya, which is located at the center of international transportation corridors, has a great importance in terms of increasing its competitiveness in freight and passenger transportation between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, so they pay special attention to each project that will strengthen the city’s transportation network.
Karaismailoglu said that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in 2003 that “airline will be the way of the people” and that he started a great breakthrough in this field. He added saying, the number of airports increased from 26 in 2003 to 56, and the flight service from 2 centers to 26 points on domestic lines increased from 7 centers to 56 destinations.
Minister stated that international flights to 60 destinations in 50 countries reached 329 destinations in 127 countries and that the passenger traffic, which was 34 million in 2003 in total, reached 210 million in 2019:
“As the Ministry, we are implementing our giant projects, each of which is strategic steps, in line with the goal of making Turkey one of the world’s largest economies. Turkey has today become a logistics superpower in the world and in its region by implementing world-scale infrastructure projects in every mode of transportation. These predictive steps from today to the future are the work of a state mind that designs a richer, more fertile, and stronger Turkey for years to come. I would like to state once again that we will not come back from the bold and determined steps we have taken on this path, on which we walk with a strategic vision.
We say, ‘Let the problem of unemployment disappear, increase tourism income, and let our children live richer than us’. This is also okay but unfortunately, these wishes are not fulfilled by just speaking. These gigantic roads, these enormous bridges, these modern airports, the ports that dominate the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, the satellites we send to space are exactly for this. We are the closest witness to the fact that transportation and communication projects accelerate the development in the regions where they are built and revive agriculture, industry, and tourism.”
Expressing that they know very well that Malatya’s need for air transportation, which is the main actor of international transportation and trade, is increasing with its constantly growing economy, Karaismailoglu, said that the airline investments, which started in 2003 with the instructions of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, brought along very important developments in this field in Malatya as well as in Turkey.
Stating that the number of passengers in the city’s air transport, which was 89 thousand in 2003, increased to 750 thousand in 2019 and reached 478 thousand 546 in 2020 despite the new type of coronavirus (Covid-19), Minister Karaismailoglu, explained that Malatya has made significant developments in the last 19 years, its economy has grown, its prosperity has increased, and it needs more.
Passenger capacity will increase to 2.5 million
Karaismailoglu said that they determined that the expansion made due to the increasing passenger demand for air transportation and the increasing speed cannot meet the desired need for the future, and for this purpose, they decided to build a new terminal building suitable for today’s conditions in Malatya.
“Today, we are happy and proud to lay the foundations of our new terminal building. We will add a new terminal building of 26 thousand 765 square meters to Malatya next to the existing 9.625 square meter terminal building. We will increase the annual passenger capacity from 1 million 200 thousand passengers to 2.5 million passengers. We will not be only building a terminal building; We will also construct a 2 thousand 495 square meter heat and power center building, a 112 square meter apron barrier building, airport entrance guardhouse, airport internal connection roads, a parking lot for 301 vehicles, a treatment facility and a 48 thousand 900 square meter apron and ground services vehicle area. In other words, we are building a modern airport in Malatya that has no shortage. We will also build the Fuel Services Team Command Building and the Nizamiye Building belonging to the 7th Main Jet Base Command. With its new terminal building and other complementary facilities, Malatya will assume a much more important position in air transport and traffic. It will contribute to the development of tourism in the region by increasing the number of domestic and foreign visitors coming to Malatya and will further stimulate trade activities “
Sehit Gaffari Gunes Bridge to be opened with a ceremony attended by the President
Karaismailoglu stated that he had a second good news for Malatya apart from the terminal building and that they will open the Tohma, the new name Sehit Gaffari Gunes Bridge, which they built to ensure the integrity of the divided road between Malatya-Hekimhan-Sivas, with a ceremony attended by the President.
Stating that both projects will take their place in history as giant works realized to increase the quality of life of the citizens of Malatya, Karaismailoglu said, “For Malatya, which has always been the apple of our eye, we have worked non-stop in different areas of transportation and communication. Before 2003, we had 36 kilometers of divided road and increased it to 443 kilometers. We connected Malatya to Elazig, Diyarbakir, Kahramanmaras and Adiyaman through divided roads. We will continue to strengthen Malatya’s transportation and communication infrastructure and prepare it for the future. We will build the beautiful days we dream of for Malatya together. I wish our Malatya Airport new terminal building to be beneficial on behalf of our country and nation, especially Malatya. “
It will be put into service in 2023
Huseyin Keskin, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Manager of the State Airports Administration, said that the Malatya Airport New Terminal Building, designed to meet all the needs of passengers and Malatya, is a magnificent work.
Keskin stated that the project, which was tendered for ₺195 million, will be completed in February 2023.
At the ceremony, where AK Party Malatya Deputy Oznur Calik and the Governor of Malatya Aydin Barus also spoke, the foundation of the terminal building was laid.
Source: AA / Translated by Irem Yildiz