Ankara Esenboğa Airport is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, the capital city of

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 ...

. In 2024, the airport has served more than 12 million passengers in total, 9 million of which were domestic passengers. It ranked 4th in terms of total passenger traffic (after Istanbul Airport, Sabiha Gökçen Airport and

Antalya Airport Antalya Airport is a major international airport located northeast of the city centre of Antalya, Turkey. It is a major destination during the European summer leisure season due to its location at the country's Mediterranean coast. It handled ...

), 3rd in terms of domestic passenger traffic (after Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gökçen Airport) among airports in Turkey as well as one of the busiest airports in the Middle East. The airport was ranked 22nd in the "100 Things That Give Hope in Turkey" list published in the 100th issue of Newsweek Turkey magazine.

Overview

The airport is located northeast of

, from the city center. The airport is connected with Kızılay (the city center) and Ankara Intercity Bus Terminal (Turkish: Ankara Şehirlerarası Terminal İşletmesi, AŞTİ) by EGO city bus number 442 (from 6 am to 11pm). Transportation to the city center is also by taxi (around TRY 900 one way, metered) and through the Havaş bus line (approximately TRY 120 one way). The road between Esenboğa airport and the Ankara ring road was expanded during the summer of 2006, decreasing the driving time between the city center and the airport by several minutes. The name of the airport comes from the village of Esenboğa, which literally means "Windflowing Bull" or "Serene Bull", the modernized form of Isen Buqa, the name of a Turkic

warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...

in the army of

Timur Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...

who settled his troops here during the Battle of Ankara in 1402. Esenboğa International Airport was awarded as the best airport in Europe by ACI Europe (

Airport Council International Airports Council International (ACI) is an organization of airport authorities, informing members of industry practices and airport standards. Established in 1991, its headquarters (ACI World) are based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its memb ...

) and the award presented to airport officials on 17 June 2009 in Manchester. The award is given in 4 categories every year and Esenboğa was in 5–10 million per annum category. It is the first time an ACI award was granted to a Turkish Airport. According to ACI-Europe, "As with number of the top candidates in this category, the airport excels in all the keys areas of operations, however the judges singled it out for its work in the area of environmental innovation, securing an incredible 25% energy savings stemming from its recycling of exhaust gases to power its air conditioning plants." In 2020, Esenboğa Airport was awarded as the best European airport with a capacity of 15 – 25 million passengers by

Airports Council International Airports Council International (ACI) is an organization of Airport authority, airport authorities, informing members of industry practices and airport standards. Established in 1991, its headquarters (ACI World) are based in Montreal, Quebec, Ca ...

. A new parallel runway is under construction to the east of the terminal building. Upon the completion, the current runway 03R/21L will be resigned as 03C/21C and the new runway will receive the latter's former designation.

Terminals

Esenboga Airport Domestic and International Terminal constructed under "Build-Operate-Transfer" model has been completed. Esenboga Airport current Terminal, which went into operation on October 16, 2006 with a capacity of 10 million passengers, are spread over a area. A new general aviation terminal with area has been opened in January 2012 to service private and business jets. The new terminal, opened in 2006, feature area, 10,000,000 passenger/year capacity, 18 ea. passenger bridges, 105 check-in counters, 34 passport counters, a parking facility with area and 4,000 vehicles capacity.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Ankara Esenboğa Airport:

Statistics

Passengers

Movements

Other facilities

* The airport is the head office of

AnadoluJet AJet, formerly branded as AnadoluJet until 31 March 2024, is a Turkey, Turkish low-cost airline operating domestic flights as well as international flights to Northern Cyprus, Europe and Western Asia from its base at Sabiha Gökçen Internation ...

. * Esenboğa Airport was designated as one of the emergency landing sites for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

Ground Transport

Metro line is planned for Ankara Esenboğa Airport. The new Ankara-Esenboğa metro line will connect the airport and Yıldırım Beyazıt University to the city's central rail network. The line will be a fully automated metro system, running mostly underground, with a total length of 27 km.

Accidents and incidents

* Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 871, a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle I registered as OY-KRB, crashed on approach killing all 42 occupants onboard. * Turkish Airlines Flight 835, a

Fokker F27 Friendship The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

registered as TC-TAY, crashed into a hill shortly before landing killing 28 occupants out of the 29. * British European Airways Flight 226, a de Havilland Comet 4B registered as G-ARJM, crashed shortly after takeoff due to stalling. Twenty-seven out of the 34 occupants were killed. * 1979 Turkish Airlines Ankara crash, a

Fokker F28 Fellowship The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a twin-engined, short-range jet airliner designed and built by Netherlands, Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. Following the Fokker F27 Friendship, an early and commercially successful turboprop-powered regional air ...

registered as TC-JAT, crashed during approach killing 41 out of the 45 occupants onboard. * Turkish Airlines Flight 158, a Boeing 727-2F2 registered as TC-JBR, landed 50 meters short of the runway resulting in the deaths of 47 occupants out of the 67.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ankara Esenboga International Airport 1955 establishments in Turkey Airports in Turkey Buildings and structures in Ankara Transport in Ankara Province Space Shuttle Emergency Landing Sites Airports established in 1955