The Airports Council International (ACI) in Europe awarded the best airport award to the modern Istanbul Airport in Turkey in the category of airports with more than 40 million passengers per year.
Istanbul IGA Airport shared the award with last year's winner - Fiumicino Airport in Rome with the same result, the mega air hub said in a statement. Selahattin Bilgen, the airport's CEO, said: "We are always looking for new ways to exceed our guests' expectations in the areas of sustainability, accessibility, innovation and technological advancement."
Last year, Istanbul Airport served more than 76 million passengers, marking an 18% increase compared to the previous year. The aim of the airport is to reach 120 million passengers by the end of 2025.
Praising the mega air hub's strong growth and operational performance, ACI Europe highlighted that Istanbul Airport has put sustainability "at the heart of its strategy", such as plans for a solar power plant to meet all of its electricity needs.
"The judges noted that the winner continues to demonstrate that aggressive investment in state-of-the-art airport infrastructure, together with a supportive government, is a winning formula - creating a strong globally competitive hub that successfully wins passengers and attracts more airlines," they added.
In the "25-40 million passengers" category, Oslo Airport was named the best airport in Europe thanks to its good results in operational activity and punctuality. | BGNES