Antalya Airport is to be further expanded over the next few years, as the operating company expects demand to increase sharply. It also plays a role that numerous Russian tour operators want to use this airport for transfers to third countries.

As a result of the sanctions that the United States of America and the European Union, among others, imposed on the Russian Federation in the wake of the military attack on Ukraine, there have also been mutual airspace closures. Classic flight routes and transfer locations have been eliminated. Turkey has not joined the sanctions and their carriers benefit greatly from the fact that Russians can reach almost the whole world with a change.

Air traffic between the Russian Federation and Antalya was greatly expanded in the summer of 2022. In the future, some tour operators want to use the Turkish airport as a kind of mini hub to enable transfers. The reasoning behind it: Between Russia and Turkey you officially charter the plane yourself and between Turkey and the holiday destination a Turkish “partner” is used who charters the machine for the onward flight. This construction is intended to circumvent existing sanctions and prevent the aircraft commissioned from having to fly complicated detours.

demand has risen sharply

Antalya Airport is operated by a joint venture owned by the TAV and Fraport groups. However, the planned expansion is not explicitly intended for business with Russians, but is also necessary for other reasons. Due to the fact that Turkey has positioned itself as a particularly cheap holiday destination, demand is stronger than ever this year. Many low-cost airlines, including Corendon, Ryanair, Easyjet, SunExpress, Pegasus, Freebird and others, have massively increased their offerings and intend to continue growing strongly in the coming years.

In addition, there are countless charter flights that tour operators set up in cooperation with numerous airlines. This year, the offer was subsequently increased several times, which meant that around 185.000 travelers use Antalya Airport every day. The operators assume that the airport could soon reach its capacity limit.

For this reason, Fraport-TAV is investing around 750 million euros to increase the capacity of Antalya Airport to around 80 million passengers per year. The project is divided into different phases. First, the international terminal is to be expanded to an area of ​​267.000 square meters. Completion is scheduled for early 2025. They also want to expand the apron to a capacity for 181 aircraft. At the same time, they want to renew the tank infrastructure. Both an additional fuel store and underground lines leading to the ramps are to be built.

In the medium term, i.e. between 2030 and 2040, Fraport-TAV wants to build both a new tower and an additional international terminal. No significant details have been communicated about this project, as the project is still being developed. The operator's concession runs until 2052.