Construction on Türkiye's new offshore airport to start this year

Türkiye will begin construction this year on a new offshore airport in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, marking a major infrastructure expansion aimed at easing capacity constraints and supporting regional tourism growth.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced this timeline during an interview with the Turkish Anadolu Agency on January 14, stating that the airport will be built on reclaimed land in the Black Sea.

According to the minister, it will feature a terminal with the capacity to handle 10 million passengers annually, along with a 3,000-meter runway capable of accommodating wide-body aircraft.

The project has already been incorporated into the government’s investment program, with key preparatory steps completed. According to Uraloğlu, the tender process has concluded and the site is in the process of being handed over to contractors.

"We have finalized the investment program and the tender process. We are now at the stage of site delivery, groundbreaking and starting excavation," Uraloğlu said.

The new airport in the Northeast of the country is intended to address the limitations of the existing Trabzon Airport, which currently serves more than 3 million passengers annually. With a runway length of 2,650 meters, the current facility lacks the physical space needed for expansion, both in terms of runway extension and terminal capacity.

"It is an airport where aircraft of a certain size can land. There is no possibility for expansion, neither for the runway nor for the terminal buildings," the minister explained, which is why the offshore airport has been designed specifically to accommodate larger, wide-body aircraft and to meet the rising demand generated by the Black Sea region’s expanding tourism sector.

Uraloğlu also provided an overview of Türkiye’s broader aviation landscape, noting that the country currently operates 58 airports. That number is expected to rise to 60 by the end of the year with the anticipated openings of Bayburt-Gümüşhane and Yozgat airports.

Air travel demand in Türkiye continues to grow rapidly. Passenger traffic reached a record 247 million in 2025, and the government projects that the figure will surpass 260 million in 2026, according to the minister.

Beyond aviation, Uraloğlu highlighted progress on several major infrastructure initiatives across road, rail, and air transport. Among them is the Development Road project, a large-scale strategic corridor designed to connect the Grand Faw Port in Iraq’s oil-rich southern region with Türkiye and onward to Europe through an integrated rail and highway network extending more than 3,000 kilometers.

The project aims to significantly reduce travel times between Asia and Europe, positioning itself as a competitive alternative to existing maritime routes, including the Suez Canal.

By Nazrin Sadigova