AA - Italian airline company Blu-express.com has launched direct flights to Sabiha Gokcen Airport, Istanbul's main airport on the Asian side of the city. Blu-express.com, the low-cost arm of the Blue Panorama Airlines, is scheduled to fly six times a week between Rome and Istanbul, the company's commercial director George Michalopoulos told reporters in a press meeting.
Sabiha Gokcen Airport's new international terminal building opened in October and Türkiye's main air carrier, the Turkish Airlines, launched direct flights to destinations in Europe last month. The new terminal has the capacity to serve 25 million passengers and is expected to serve 5.5 million passengers in 2009.
The airport is operated by a multi-national consortium of Türkiye's Limak Holding, GMR Infrastructure and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad. The consortium won the management rights of the airport for 20 years on May 1, 2008 in return for EUR 1.9 billion.