Erdogan officially opened the new airport in Istanbul

According to IGA, the operating company, the construction of the new airport cost 10.25 billion euros (approximately 265 billion CZK). The first flight will take place on Wednesday, heading to the capital Ankara. In the meantime, until full operation begins, planes will only fly to five destinations. By 2020, a metro line is expected to lead to the new airport, which will be named simply Istanbul Airport.

If the expectations regarding passenger numbers are met, the new Istanbul airport would indeed be the largest in the world. Currently, the title is held by Atlanta, USA, where the airport served 104 million passengers last year, according to DPA.

"I hope that the airport... will help our region and the world... it is an airport that Istanbul deserves," the president said during the festive ceremony attended by representatives from Balkan countries and Central Asian nations, Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and controversial Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. An arrest warrant was issued for him by the International Criminal Court in The Hague several years ago on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Erdogan is known for his passion for prestigious and megalomaniacal projects. This one, which is still under construction, is controversial. Environmentalists, for example, criticize its impacts on the environment, which they describe as devastating. The Turkish authorities have also suppressed a strike by workers who were building the airport and arrested some of them. Authorities state that about 30 of them have died at the construction site since work began in early 2015, while unions claim this number is severely underestimated, noted the AFP agency.

The current international Atatürk Airport in Istanbul will be closed at the end of December. A park and exhibition center will be built in its place, Erdogan reiterated today.