Page 93 - TURKRptJun19

P. Cars Imports
14,187
-62%
54,611
-54%
Total Imports
17,685
-62%
68,059
-54%
P. Cars Exports
66,084
-17%
275,967
-13%
Total Exports
106,004
-9%
426,026
-8%
P. Cars Exports
0.96
-23%
3.90
-14%
Total Exports
2.66
-10%
10.5
-7%
Tractor Production
2,192
-48%
6,936
-62%
Grand Total
130,105
-9%
496,365
-15%
source: osd
9.1.3 Transport sector news
The construction of Turkey’s mega airport was an unnecessary endeavour approved by former PM Binali Yildirim, a columnist for Turkish daily Karar has written. The $12bn Istanbul Airport, located outside the business capital by the Black Sea, has replaced Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport as the country’s main international airport. According to Ibrahim Kahveci, who writes for the moderate Islamist newspaper, it was Yildirim—who was prime minister until the position was scrapped when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began his new-style executive presidency last year and was also the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP’s) losing candidate in the end-of- March Istanbul mayoral election, prior to the result being annulled for alleged “irregularities” with a revote scheduled for June 23—who waved through the airport investment while he served as transport minister. Officials want to see Istanbul Airport become the world’s busiest airport after the completion of all construction phases in the next several years. But its construction quality and location have been roundly criticised since it went fully operational in April. Earlier this month, a series of flights were reportedly diverted to nearby Corlu due to bad weather conditions, and last week a plane collided with a transmission pole while taxiing. Travel expert and consultant Ben Schlappig wrote in a commentary in April that the airport was “breathtaking”, but added that it was one of the most poorly designed in the world. In his column, published on May 27, Kahveci quoted a recent book by Hamdi Topcu, a former board chairman of flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY). “As a result of THY’s aggressive growth, Ataturk Airport could not handle the increasing volume of air traffic. We were saving the day with continuous improvements. One parallel runway and an additional terminal could save the airport,” Topcu wrote, saying three alternative plans had been put forward, two of which could simply provide for a modification of Ataturk Airport without causing a heavy financial burden. But in 2012, Yildirim, he claimed, approved the construction of the mega airport, saying its first phase would be finished in 2015. “I do not have data on the new airport’s economic contribution or burden on it. I had some reservations about its location but time will tell,” Topcu added, noting that the airport could be expensive in terms of service costs for airlines.
Kahveci also quoted Miktad Kadioglu, a prominent professor of disaster management and meteorology. “Up to now they have finished the construction of two runways. I do not know whether they will construct the remaining one according to my suggestions [in a commissioned report],” Kadioglu was cited as saying. “The remaining runway should be built according to scientific analysis rather than according to Ankara’s memorised opinions.” In his second column on the airport, published on May 28. In it, he quoted Candan Karlitekin, another former chairman of THY, who described the new airport as “unnecessary” and a waste of resources. Istanbul’s existing two airports, Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen, could have handled annual traffic of more than 120mn passengers with the simple addition of one runway each, Karlitekin reportedly noted. “In fact, analysing Istanbul Airport individually is like trying to find the answer to a faulty question,” Karlitekin said. “The new airport cannot
93 TURKEY Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com