ISTANBUL - Turkish and Malaysian officials participated on Saturday at a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a new international terminal for Istanbul's main airport on the Asian side of the city.
Turkish premier, transportation minister and his Malaysian counterpart as well as Turkish defense minister were among those who attended the ceremony of the Sabiha Gokcen International Airport.
Delivering a speech, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said "we are witnessing a historic ceremony of a great project for both Istanbul and Turkey."
The new international terminal will be built by a consortium of Turkish, Indian and Malaysian companies with an investment of at least 250 million euro. The consortium has also paid 1.9 billion euro to run the airport for 20 years.
The terminal will have an annual capacity of 10 million passengers, with a 3-storey parking lot for over 5 thousand vehicles, and a 60-room airport hotel.
(YMB-EÖ)