As a result of the new airport, the Eastern Black Sea region will become a hub for the transportation chain between the countries of the Caucasus and the Middle East.
“It will provide the transportation needs of the Eastern Black Sea region, where road transportation is difficult due to its geographical features, in a faster and more comfortable way, and will establish a transportation point for passengers going to the Eastern Black Sea region and Georgia from domestic and abroad,” – the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey Adil Karaismailoğlu said at the opening ceremony.
The new airport targets both the provinces of Rize and Artvin, two relatively sparsely populated areas in the country's east with about half a million inhabitants in total. The airport is an 'artificial island', joining a list of only a handful of others on reclaimed ground, including at Ordu-Giresun, in northern Turkey. It opened seven years earlier, in May 2015.
Details of the airport:
• Maximum passenger throughput: 3 million a year
• One runway: 9,800 feet (3,000 meters) long, 45 feet (148 meters) wide
• Stands for seven narrow bodies
• Indoor airport size: 507,335 sq feet (47,133 sqm)
• Cost: around US$285 million (unclear if that includes the reclamation progress)