The Rize-Artvin Airport, a unique project linking Türkiye's Eastern Black Sea region to the rest of the country, was commissioned on May 14 during a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan. The new airport is the fifth in the world and the second, after commissioning the Ordu-Giresun Airport, in Türkiye to be built on a reclaimed land off the coastline.
Speaking at the ceremony, President Erdoğan said, “We will fulfil our Vision 2053 of being a global logistics superpower. This project, which I see as a symbol of the progress Türkiye has made over the past 20 years in terms of development and particularly in air transport, is also a sign that neither mountains nor seas can stand in front of our determination to serve our nation." In his speech, President Aliyev said that Türkiye is developing every day, calling it a "power centre" of the world.
The Rize-Artvin Airport was constructed in 5 years with a total investment of TRY 4.4 billion and a total runway length of 3 km, including a passenger terminal with an annual capacity of 3 million. The airport has 32,000 square meters of terminal building, 3 taxi ways, 3 aprons, and a parking lot for 448 motor vehicles. In addition to the time-saving benefit and increasing mobility, the airport will bring an economic boost along with social, cultural, and environmental benefits to the citizens of Rize and Artvin. With the inauguration of the Rize-Artvin Airport, the number of airports in Türkiye increased from 26 in 2002 to 57 in 2022.