The Pearl of the Aegean - Izmir Adnan Menderes International Airport

Richard Maslen June 03, 2010

Overview

Izmir, affectionately known as 'The Pearl of the Aegean' and historically as Smyrna, is located in the third most populous city of Turkey and is the country's largest port after Istanbul.

TAV Airports Holding opened the İzmir Adnan Menderes International Airport Terminal on September 13, 2006, eight months earlier than scheduled. TAV will contribute to Izmir's tourism potential with a new and modern airport with greater capacity.

Catchment Area

IIzmir is located in the Gulf of Izmir, by the Aegean Sea and is the capital of Izmir Province,. The airport itself is located 18 km to the city centre. Access to the airport is possible by bus and taxis.

Izmir has a population of 3.9 million, though the airport has a catchment of 5.5 million people living within 2 hours of the airport.

Facilities

The Airport has two terminals - domestic, which has annual traffic of 4.5 million passengers, and is operated by the State Airport Authority (SAA) and the newly built International terminal.

The new international terminal at Izmir, which has a capacity of 5 million passengers per year, was inaugurated in 2006 and is operated by TAV Airports. Total international passengers are approximately 2 million per year.

Historic Passenger Statistics:

Passenger Statistics of Izmir Airport by Year (All Figures in Thousands)
Passengers	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Domestic	1,984	2,960	3,635	3,758	4,534
International	1,677	1,451	1,601	1,697	1,667
Total	3,661	4,411	5,236	5,455	6,201

Izmir has two runways with a runway capacity of 30 movements per hour.

Izmir's Economy

Turkey is a developing middle income country. Between 2002 and 2007, The Turkish economy grew an average 6% per year, which is one of the highest sustained rates in the world. Although the global crisis caused a contraction of 4,7% in Turkish economy in 2009, IMF projects a 3.7% growth in 2010.

Izmir is Turkey's primary port for exports and hosts the leading free trade zone in the country. According to Turkish Statistical Institute's research in 2006, Izmir residents' income per capita was on average 25% higher than the national income per capita.

Top export partners of Turkey are:

Germany
UK
US
Italy
France

Top export products of Turkey are:

Passenger vehicles
TV receivers
Textile
Trucks

Top import partners of Turkey are;

Germany
China
Russia
Italy
US

Top import products of Turkey are;

Passenger vehicles
Motor vehicle parts
Non Crude Oil
Ferrous waste & scrap

Network

Izmir Airport has a mix of scheduled and charter traffic. In terms of scheduled services the majority of its route network serves the domestic Turkish market, Germany and the UK. The domestic network is dominated by Sky Airlines and Turkish Airlines. The only scheduled services into the UK are to London and these routes are operated by British Airways and Kibris Turkish Airlines, while into Germany Sky Airlines, Germanwings, and Sun Express are the dominant scheduled carriers.

Tourism

Izmir attracts massive inbound tourism traffic and is closely located to major touristic destinations such as Cesme, Selcuk and Kusadası. The airport is the most convenient entry point for holiday-makers who would like to experience the natural and historical beauty of the area.

The House of the Virgin Mary, located near Ephesus in Selcuk, is a very spiritual place for Christians and attracts around half a million visitors every year. Izmir is especially popular among Germans and British while it is getting increasingly popular among domestic tourists as well.