The Silivri district, located on the European side of the city, will be the location of Istanbul’s third airport which will have capacity several times greater than the existing Istanbul Ataturk Airport nearby.

Ataturk International is currently the main gateway to Istanbul, European Capital of Culture 2010, with nearly 30 million arrivals in 2009 and a 13% increase seen in the first four months of 2010. On the Asian side, the new Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen airport, home to many of the budget airlines serving Istanbul including easyJet, has seen phenomenal growth in recent years rising from a mere 50,000 passengers in 2001 to more than 5 million in the first half of 2010 and over 11 million expected by the end of the year.

As Steven Worboys, MD of Turkish property experts, Experience International, comments,

“Turkey’s tourism levels as a whole in 2010 have been impressive with a 12% increase in UK visitors recorded in the first nine months taking the total number of international visitors to 23 million so far this year according to the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Istanbul has welcomed a large proportion of these visitors placing increased pressure on existing transportation systems and accommodation.”

In response to this demand, some 2,270 hotel rooms are planned to be built in Istanbul by western brands including Crowne Plaza, Hilton, Radisson Blu and Shangri-La according to hotel market analysis STR Global. In addition a number of buy-to-let residential developments are under construction, especially in the western districts such as Büyükçekmece which borders Silivri, home to the new airport. 

One such development is Crystal Heights located in the Beylikdüzü suburb of Büyükçekmece, just 17km from Ataturk Airport. Already under construction, the modern luxury apartments have proved very popular with local Istanbul residents and international investors capitalising on the massive demand for accommodation in the city.

A new phase has just been released at Crystal Heights with 1 and 2 bedroom luxury apartments in the booming western suburbs available from £68,000 with a 2 year 7% protected rental guarantee and 70% finance available (subject to status).

For more information about the new airport planned at Silivri and investing in Istanbul then contact the experts at Experience International on + 44 (0) 207 321 5858 or visit www.experience-international.co.uk.