Istanbul Airport's new runway saves 284 tonnes of fuel

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu spoke about the fourth main runway at Istanbul Airport, which opened with the first takeoff approved by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 18 September 2026. Between 18 September and 15 October 2026, the new runway handled 1,738 takeoffs, equal to 7.9 percent of the 22,118 takeoffs made from Istanbul Airport in the same period. Uraloğlu said the runway offers an alternative takeoff option, particularly in the eastern direction, which is easing air traffic.

Uraloğlu said that 1,475 of the takeoffs from the new runway used standard instrument departure routes called BARPE, IVGUS, VICEN and RATVU. On those flights, compared with using an alternative runway, routes were shortened by an average of 15.2 nautical miles per flight and 22,453 nautical miles in total. Based on the ministry's fuel consumption and emission reference coefficients, the flights saved approximately 284 tonnes of fuel and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 897 tonnes.