Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (IATA: SAW, ICAO: LTFJ) is the second busiest airport in Istanbul and one of the fastest-growing aviation hubs in Europe. Located on the Anatolian side of Istanbul in the Pendik district, approximately 35 kilometres southeast of the city centre, the airport serves as a major base for Pegasus Airlines and AJet.
The airport was named after Sabiha Gökçen, the world’s first female combat pilot and the adopted daughter of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The idea for the airport emerged in 1987 when the Defense Industry Executive Committee decided to establish an “Advanced Technology Industrial Park and Civil Aviation Center” in the Pendik Kurtköy area. The airport opened to traffic on January 8, 2001, becoming Istanbul’s second airport, the Anatolian side’s first, and Turkey’s first privately operated airport.
In 2008, the operating rights for the airport’s terminals were transferred to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport Investment Development and Operation Inc. (ISG), a joint venture between Turkey’s Limak Holding, India’s GMR Infrastructure, and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad . The airport’s second runway became operational in 2023.
SAW has experienced remarkable growth, having been the world’s fastest-growing airport for seven consecutive years between 2009 and 2015. In 2025, passenger traffic at the airport reached a record 48.41 million passengers, an increase of 16.7% compared to the previous year, surpassing pre-pandemic levels and the airport’s annual capacity of 41 million passengers. International travellers accounted for more than half of total traffic. The airport currently serves 154 destinations across 54 countries, having added 25 new routes in 2025 alone.
The airport is undergoing significant expansion. In December 2025, a €70 million modernisation and optimisation of Terminal 1 was completed, lifting the airport’s combined capacity to 50 million passengers per year. Plans for a new Midfield Terminal are also under consideration, which would add a further 25 million passengers of capacity.