Last updated on .
On April 6, 2019, Atatürk International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, closed forever to commercial passenger traffic. The airport was replaced by a newer, much bigger airport near the Black Sea coast – Istanbul International Airport. It’s only handling cargo, business, state and diplomatic flights for the time being.
The Airport
Atatürk International Airport, located on the European side of the city in Yeşilköy, was the main airport in Istanbul and also the largest. It opened in 1912 as a military airfield and became an international airport in 1953. Its original name was Yeşilköy Airport until it was renamed in honor of the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in the 1980s.
Atatürk was a hub for Turkish Airlines and could connect travelers to many destinations throughout the world on direct flights. There were two terminals, one for domestic and another for international flights. The final commercial flight, Turkish Airlines Flight 54, left on April 6, 2019, at 2:44am for Singapore. The airport code was IST, but that code was transferred to the new airport and Atatürk was assigned a new code, ISL.
Although in its final years it was among the busiest airports in the world, I always enjoyed flying into and out of Atatürk for two reasons. One was the proximity to the city. Without traffic, it was possible to get to Taksim Square in just over 30 minutes.
Takeoff and Landing
The other reason was the approach. There was some beautiful scenery flying over the Marmara Sea on both takeoff and landing, and you could easily see the urban sprawl of the huge metropolis.
Awards
Air Transport News named Atatürk International Airport the Airport of the Year in 2013. The same year, Skytrax named it Europe’s best airport in the 40-50 million passenger category.
Accidents and Incidents
Only two major aviation accidents occurred during the airport’s history. On January 30, 1975, Turkish Airlines Flight 345 from Izmir crashed into the Marmara Sea on its final approach, killing all 42 passengers and crew on board.
On April 25, 2015, Turkish Airlines Flight 1878 from Milan took a hard landing and damaged its landing gear on its first attempt. The second attempt caused the landing gear to break. The plane rolled off the runway and spun 180°, but all on board evacuated without injury.
Finally, the most horrific incident occurred on June 28, 2016. Three terrorists killed 44 civilians with gunfire and suicide bombings. 239 civilians were injured.
