All airlines everywhere invited to 1st Istanbul New Airport Development Conference

While Istanbul New Airport will be the centre of Turkish Airlines’ world-domination strategy, what will it be like for “other” airlines – especially those airlines which are not Turkish Airlines’ Star Alliance partners?

This week the President and Prime Minister of Turkey presided over the final signing of the €4.5 billion loan agreements covering the €10.2 billion construction of Istanbul New Airport by İGA Havalimanı İşletmesi A.Ş. with the consortium leader Nihat Özdemir, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Limak Holding, confirming that the mega airport will be operational from Q1 2018.

Meanwhile the first comprehensive reveal of the new airport to airlines takes place at the “1st Istanbul New Airport Development Conference: The New Mega-Hub Shaping The Future Of Aviation” which is being held within the structure of this year’s İGA-hosted ACI Airport Exchange in central Istanbul 8-10 December.

Airbus’ vision for the Istanbul mega-hub: Airbus Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer, Marwan Lahoud, will deliver the keynote presentation in Istanbul, no doubt involving plans for Airbus equipment to dominate what is on course to be Europe’s largest hub after 2020.

More than 10 İGA speakers, including the Chairman, CEO, and Chief Business Development Officer, will give exclusive presentations on the technical and commercial strategy which will give all airlines serving Istanbul a vital appreciation of the airport-airline proposition, as Istanbul’s existing airport continues to grow at a pace which will see it overtake Frankfurt Airport next year and London Heathrow around 2020.

The keynote speakers in Istanbul are Dr Temel Kotil, General Manager and CEO, Turkish Airlines, and Marwan Lahoud, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer, Airbus, which undoubtedly has significant plans to see its equipment dominate the mega-hub.

Surveying a model of the mega-hub: Yusuf Akçayoğlu, CEO İGA Construction with anna.aero Publisher, Paul Hogan. Akçayoğlu will speak at the 1st Istanbul New Airport Development Conference addressing: “What does the global mega-hub of tomorrow look like when you have the opportunity to start from a blank piece of paper?”