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Ataturk's new international terminal offers much more than just air service
The international terminal at Istanbul Ataturk International Airport is a pleasant surprise: Luxurious without being overwhelming or tacky, with modern architecture, glass curtain walls, stainless steel and ceramic panel finishes, granite flooring, plenty of space and very, very clean-even the toilets.
The terminal opened in January 2000 with an extension in May 2004. It has a capacity of 20 million passengers annually and covers 264,500 sq. m. on four levels comprising three principal levels plus a mezzanine. The extension, which added an annual passenger capacity of 6 million and lifted the number of boarding bridges from 18 to 23, also houses an art gallery, a hotel with 85 rooms and a fitness center.
There are 12 entrance doors, each with x-ray detectors for an initial screening of everybody, passengers as well as the visiting public, who enters the complex. A second screening takes place after passing through immigration and a last one before boarding the aircraft. The departure hall has 34 x-ray devices and 35 door detectors. There are 224 check-in counters in five zones, with 64 belonging to Turkish Airlines. Check-in runs on SITA's CUTE technology. SITA also provided its BagManager for the baggage reconciliation system at IST's international terminal, which holds 11 baggage carousels with most of the belts able to handle up to three arriving flights simultaneously. Several retail outlets are featured between the baggage carousels.
Shopping in the terminal is certainly at, if not above, Western standards, with a large duty-free mall on the departure level and duty-free shops on the arrivals level. In total there are some 5,300 sq. m. of shopping space and 8,500 sq. m. of catering outlets with 44 cafes, bars, restaurants and buffets. Catering seating capacity amounts to 4,500. There also are three banks, a pharmacy, a hairdresser, a florist, a massage spa, a shoeshine stand and a supervised child care facility.
"Generating aeronautical revenue is straightforward; you only need airlines and passengers. The tariffs are regulated," says Sani Sener, CEO and president of TAV Investment Holding, the private operator of Istanbul Ataturk International. "Where we differ [from the former state-controlled 1ST operator] is in the creation of nonaeronautical revenue. We are a lot...