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Turkey's Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoglu posted a time-lapse video of the new Rize-Artvin Airport's construction phase on Twitter, describing it as an engineering marvel, Yeni Shafak has reported.

Each stage of the construction of the terminal buildings and the teacup-shaped air traffic control tower of Rize-Artvin Airport were recorded.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev jointly inaugurated Rize-Artvin Airport, Turkey's 58th airport on May 14.

The foundation of Rize-Artvin Airport, which was constructed on a 1000-hectare area in Yesilkoy, Rize's Pazar district, was laid on April 3, 2017, by the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry.

In line with the project, some 3 million square meters of the sea were filled using 100 million tons of stone. The airport, which will serve 3 million people per year and cost 4.4 billion TL ($275 million) to build, was finished five years.

Turkey's second and the world's fifth sea-filled airport, has a total indoor space of 47,133 square meters, including a 32,000 square meter terminal building and other auxiliary facilities.

The construction of Turkey's 58th airport's terminal buildings was inspired by local architecture with its 36-meter-high tower being in a teacup shape.

Turkey now has 58 airports, thanks to the opening of Rize-Artvin Airport, which was built on a 3 million square meter area. Rize-Artvin Airport, after Ordu-Giresun Airport, is the second airport in Turkey and the fifth in the world to be built by filling the sea. The airport's runway, apron, taxiway, and other infrastructure work had been completed, Karaismailoglu said earlier.

He underlined that test flights started in early April. With its 45-meter-wide and 3,000-meter-long runway, the project will fully meet the regional airline transportation needs and will be able to serve 3 million passengers per year.

“We are talking about an enormous structure with a total indoor area of ​​47,133 square meters, including the 32,000 square meters terminal building and other support buildings. We also erected the terminal building, which represents local architecture, and the tower, which is 36 meters high and is inspired by a shape of a tea glass that contains vestiges of the regional cultural features. Our tower, with its lighted body, will add to the region's silhouette new energy,” the minister said.

Significant measures have been taken to improve the landscape of Rize-Artvin Airport, which is one of the world's rare examples of its technical and construction features. Some 49,000 square meters area has been vegetated with 1,453 trees that are compatible with the geographical features of the Black Sea and a tea museum has been established to introduce Rize tea to the rest of the world, Karaismailoglu emphasized.

He highlighted that the airport will provide uninterrupted domestic and international air transportation to the Eastern Black Sea region, Rize and Artvin, as well as will open the natural beauties of the region to world tourism. In other words, it will contribute to the country’s economy by properly using the tourism potential.

“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 destination and abroad,” the minister stressed.

The project will both support the political and economic relations between Turkey and the regional countries and increase the investment potential of the region by accelerating the socio-economic and socio-cultural development, he added.

During the building phase, the airport contributed 56 various sectors directly or indirectly, and it will continue to do so during the operational phase. During the building phase, the project contributed $556 million to the national economy, employed 28,100 people with over 1.2 billion dollars in revenues, Karaismailoglu underlined.

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