Istanbul getting bigger: will be the first in Europe to land three planes at once

L'Most famous simultaneous approach in the world is the one at San Francisco International Airport.: Indeed, on Instagram and YouTube there are hundreds of in-flight videos taken by passengers showing another plane next to theirs performing the same approach, but on the runway next to it.

The two planes appear very close together. And they really are, since the distance between the two runways (considering the centerline of each) is only 750 feet, or 230 meters.

For that maneuver to be performed, according to the rules set by the Icao, there must be At least 700 feet (215 meters) between the centerline of each of the runways parallel if the approach is conducted 'on sight' and at least 4,300 feet (1,311 meters) If, on the other hand, the approach is instrumental.

Istanbul Airport, first and only in Europe, will begin testing next month to allow not two but as many as three simultaneous landings (and takeoffs) on its three runways, the last of which will open to traffic in June 2020 (when the project is completed in 2028, there will be six). The procedure Will allow the airport's movements/hour to be increased, enhancing its capacity with the existing infrastructure, while waiting for the other runways to be opened to traffic.

In 2023, Istanbul's 'new' airport (taking the place of the historic Ataturk in spring 2019) recorded traffic of 76 million passengers (second in Europe and in the world top 10), with An average of 1,375 movements per day according to Eurocontrol data. The 80% of that traffic and movement is generated by the home carrier, Turkish Airlines.

 

A figure that airport operator IGA estimates, Is expected to rise in 2024 to 85 million, very close to the current airport capacity of 90 million passengers per year. Hence the need to increase the capacity of existing runways to handle aircraft.