airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

Mersin Province Mersin Province (), formerly İçel Province (), is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast between Antalya Province, A ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

Osmaniye Osmaniye () is a city on the eastern edge of the Çukurova plain in southern Turkey. It is the seat of Osmaniye Province and Osmaniye District.Çukurova Çukurova (), or the Cilician Plain (''Cilicia Pedias'' in antiquity), is a large fertile plain in the Cilicia region of southern Anatolia. The plain covers the easternmost areas of Mersin Province, southern and central Adana Province, western Os ...

Adana Şakirpaşa Airport Adana Airport — commonly known as Adana Şakirpaşa Airport — is a general aviation airport located in Adana. It served as the main commercial airport of Cilicia region from 1937 to 2024.Adana Şakirpaşa

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

closed to commercial passenger airlines, many airlines switched their route across to the new airport for Adana, namely Çukurova Airport.

Location

The new airport was constructed at the west of Karasavran village between Çiçekli and Kargılı in Tarsus district of

Mersin Province Mersin Province (), formerly İçel Province (), is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast between Antalya Province, A ...

. The distance from the airport to Yenice, the main railroad junction is , to

Çukurova Motorway Çukurova (), or the Cilician Plain (''Cilicia Pedias'' in antiquity), is a large fertile plain in the Cilicia region of southern Anatolia. The plain covers the easternmost areas of Mersin Province, southern and central Adana Province, western Os ...

is , and to Tarsus is about . The airport is close to another project, the Kazanlı Coast Tourism Project, within the scope of

Tourism centers of Mersin Province Tourism centers of Mersin Province, are eight officially determined locations where the touristic investments will be promoted through incentive scheme. in Mersin Province, Turkey. Six of the locations are known as Tourist centers and the last two i ...

.

Çukurova Çukurova (), or the Cilician Plain (''Cilicia Pedias'' in antiquity), is a large fertile plain in the Cilicia region of southern Anatolia. The plain covers the easternmost areas of Mersin Province, southern and central Adana Province, western Os ...

is a region in mid-south Turkiye which includes the historical

Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

of the antiquity. The Turkish provinces of

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

,

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

,

Osmaniye Osmaniye () is a city on the eastern edge of the Çukurova plain in southern Turkey. It is the seat of Osmaniye Province and Osmaniye District.Hatay Hatay Province (, ) is the southernmost Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, ...

are in Çukurova. These provinces were being served by

Adana Şakirpaşa Airport Adana Airport — commonly known as Adana Şakirpaşa Airport — is a general aviation airport located in Adana. It served as the main commercial airport of Cilicia region from 1937 to 2024.Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

city. However, the increasing air traffic necessitates a higher capacity airport.

History

The construction contract was signed on 26 January 2012. According to a statement made by

Binali Yıldırım Binali Yıldırım (; born 20 December 1955) is a Turkish politician who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Turkey, 27th and last prime minister of Turkey from 2016 to 2018 and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly from 2018 to 2019. He w ...

, Minister of Communications, Maritime affairs and Telecommunications, it is a build-operate-transfer project. The undertaker is a consortium of "Skyline" and "Zonguldak Özel Sivil Havacılık". The builders have the right to operate the airport for a term of nine years and ten months. The minister added that the airport will have international status and will so help to increase the export of the region and the number of tourists. According to the newspaper ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is a major List of newspapers in Turkey, Turkish newspaper, founded in 1948. it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' combines entertainment with news coverage and ...

'', the project's cost will be 357 million Euro. When finished, it will serve to 15 million people, and the capacity will be doubled in the future. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on 28 May 2013. In the ceremony, then-

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

Binali Yıldırım explained that the location of the airport was carefully chosen to serve both Adana and Mersin. The formal opening ceremony of the new airport took place on 10 August 2024.

Adana Şakirpaşa Airport Adana Airport — commonly known as Adana Şakirpaşa Airport — is a general aviation airport located in Adana. It served as the main commercial airport of Cilicia region from 1937 to 2024.Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

.

Airlines and destinations

Cargo

The cargo terminal at Çukurova International Airport was inaugurated in 2025. Located within the borders of Mersin Province, the airport primarily serves the export logistics needs of Mersin and other provinces in the Çukurova region, including Osmaniye, Niğde, and Hatay. Operated by Turkish Cargo, the facility is the second-largest air cargo terminal in Turkey. It has an annual cargo handling capacity of 25,000 tons and is designed with a modular structure that allows for future expansion. The total size of the storage and goods acceptance areas is 11,000 m². The terminal handles high-value and sensitive goods such as veterinary vaccines, seafood, fresh fruits and vegetables, cut flowers, textile products, and ship spare parts, which are transported to 112 countries and 200 destinations. Approximately 44% of the cargo consists of special cargo, highlighting the terminal’s significant contribution to the region's foreign trade volume.

Location

History

Airlines and destinations

Cargo

See also