Istanbul has spent the past decade quietly turning geography into competitive advantage, sitting at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Now Turkish Airlines is moving to hard‑wire that advantage into infrastructure. With a sweeping multibillion‑dollar investment program linked to its 2033 centennial strategy, the flag carrier has unveiled plans to turn Istanbul Airport into what it calls one of the world’s most comprehensive aviation ecosystems, deepening its challenge to rival hubs in Dubai, Doha and London.
A 2033 Vision Backed by New Billions
The latest announcement, made in early 2026, goes beyond incremental capacity tweaks. Turkish Airlines has launched an investment initiative valued at more than 100 billion Turkish lira, or roughly 2.5 to 3 billion dollars at current exchange rates, to expand aviation infrastructure centered on Istanbul Airport. Executives say these projects are not standalone construction schemes but the backbone of a long‑term vision to cement Türkiye’s status as a leading global aviation hub by 2033.
The program is closely tied to the airline’s already published 10‑year strategic plan. That roadmap calls for expanding the fleet to more than 800 aircraft by 2033, growing annual passenger numbers to around 170 million, and roughly doubling the carrier’s economic contribution to Türkiye’s economy from about 65 billion dollars today to 144 billion dollars by the end of the period. The new investment is described by management as the infrastructure counterpart to a decade of fleet and network growth.
Turkish Airlines has underlined the scale of its ambitions with recent aircraft orders. In 2025 the carrier agreed its largest Boeing wide‑body order to date, adding dozens of 787 Dreamliners alongside a triple‑digit commitment for 737 MAX jets. Combined with substantial Airbus orders, these deals support the plan to build one of the five largest airline fleets in the world by 2033. The new Istanbul investments are designed to ensure that this enlarged fleet can be deployed, maintained and fed efficiently from a single mega‑hub.
SmartIST and the Race to Global Cargo Leadership
At the heart of the spending package is cargo. Turkish Cargo has quietly climbed from a mid‑tier player less than a decade ago to one of the top three cargo airlines globally. To sustain that trajectory, the airline is pushing ahead with the second phase of its SmartIST cargo terminal at Istanbul Airport, already counted among the world’s largest air freight facilities.
SmartIST Phase 2 is expected to more than double cargo handling capacity from around 2.2 million tons a year to about 4.5 million tons by 2027 or 2028. Once complete, the complex will position Istanbul as one of the biggest consolidated air logistics hubs anywhere, linking Asian manufacturing centers, European consumption markets and fast‑growing African and Middle Eastern economies via a single connecting point.
The project is part of a broader freight strategy. Turkish Airlines aims to double the volume of cargo it transports by 2033. Executives are explicit that cargo growth is not simply about more warehouse space and more freighters. It also requires digitalization, smart handling systems and close integration with e‑commerce platforms. To support that, the expansion blueprint includes a new e‑commerce complex at Istanbul, built around the airline’s own digital logistics platform and positioned to allow door‑to‑door or close‑to‑door services across its global network.
Feeding Half a Million Passengers a Day
Alongside cargo, catering sits at the center of the new investment. Turkish Airlines plans to build what it says will be one of the largest inflight catering centers in the world on the grounds of Istanbul Airport. Once operational, likely around 2027 or 2028, the facility is expected to be capable of producing meals for more than 500,000 passengers every day.
That figure underscores how far the carrier intends to stretch Istanbul’s role as a transfer hub. Turkish Airlines handled more than 80 million passengers in 2024 and is targeting 170 million by 2033. To sustain that growth while maintaining its reputation for above‑average onboard service, the airline needs industrial‑scale kitchen infrastructure embedded directly into the airport ecosystem.
The new catering complex will support not only Turkish Airlines’ full‑service operations but also its low‑cost arm, AnadoluJet, which is being restructured as a separate subsidiary with a future fleet of about 200 new‑generation aircraft. As leisure traffic expands and Türkiye courts more tourists from Asia, the Americas and Africa, the ability to deliver reliable, large‑scale catering becomes part of the country’s soft‑power projection through aviation.
Engineering Istanbul into a Maintenance Powerhouse
Another major pillar of the plan is technical maintenance. Turkish Technic, the airline’s maintenance, repair and overhaul subsidiary, is already a significant regional player. The new investments will add a wide‑body engine maintenance center designed to handle new‑generation engines such as Rolls‑Royce Trent variants and other long‑haul powerplants. When it opens, targeted around 2027, the facility is expected to be among the largest of its kind in Europe.
Additional hangars are also under construction to expand heavy maintenance capacity. The airline plans to be able to work on up to 12 aircraft simultaneously at the new complex, lifting overall maintenance throughput by roughly 20 percent. This increased capacity is essential for a fleet that is slated to grow past 800 aircraft by 2033, with about 90 percent of those jets expected to be new‑generation models by that date.
The expansion is not purely about serving Turkish Airlines’ own aircraft. Management sees an opportunity to develop Istanbul as a regional maintenance hub, attracting work from carriers in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia that seek competitive pricing and geographical proximity. In the process, Turkish Technic becomes both a strategic asset for the flag carrier and an export‑oriented industrial business in its own right.
Digital Backbone: The Istanbul Data Center
Beneath the visible steel and concrete, Turkish Airlines is quietly investing in digital infrastructure that it believes will differentiate Istanbul from rival hubs. A new Istanbul Data Center is planned as part of the 100 billion lira package, with operations targeted for 2027 or 2028. The facility is described as a high‑security digital core for the airline’s operations, hosting everything from real‑time flight data to cargo tracking, crew management and dynamic pricing algorithms.
The data center arrives at a moment when Türkiye is positioning itself as a bridge in digital infrastructure as well as aviation. Global technology players have announced multi‑billion‑dollar cloud and data investments in the country, betting on its location between Europe and the Middle East. For Turkish Airlines, the goal is not to compete with hyperscale providers, but to ensure that a rapidly growing volume of operational data remains close to its physical hub and under direct control.
As the airline’s fleet expands and its network widens to new destinations in Asia‑Pacific, Africa and Latin America, the complexity of orchestrating schedules, connections, cargo flows and maintenance grows exponentially. Executives argue that a dedicated data center, linked with global cloud platforms but optimized for aviation needs, is now as critical to hub competitiveness as runways and terminals.
Jobs, Training and the Human Side of a Mega Hub
Big infrastructure projects often live and die by their human capital. Turkish Airlines’ investment plan explicitly addresses this with a combination of job creation and training initiatives. Company leaders say the current wave of construction at and around Istanbul Airport will generate around 26,000 new jobs in 2026 alone, rising to approximately 36,000 once all phases are completed later in the decade.
To feed that workforce pipeline, the airline is building a new flight training center as part of the investment package, with the first phase scheduled between 2026 and 2027. Equipped with modern simulators for both narrow‑body and wide‑body jets, along with classrooms and facilities for cabin crew instruction, the center is intended to become a regional hub for aviation training, not only for Turkish Airlines but potentially for partner carriers as well.
The airline’s broader 2033 plan envisages a total workforce of around 150,000 employees across Turkish Airlines and its subsidiaries, up sharply from current levels. That scale of hiring underlines the company’s transition from a national carrier to a global aviation system headquartered in Istanbul. It also raises questions about competition for skilled labor, particularly pilots, engineers and IT specialists, in a region where Gulf carriers and new Saudi entrants are also recruiting aggressively.
Competing in a Crowded Global Hub Landscape
Turkish Airlines’ push to transform Istanbul Airport into a world‑leading hub unfolds against an intense competitive backdrop. Middle Eastern and Gulf region airports are in the midst of massive expansion, with Dubai working towards a capacity of some 260 million passengers by mid‑century and new mega‑projects rising in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. In Europe, London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt continue to fight for long‑haul transfer traffic even as they battle regulatory and environmental headwinds.
Where Istanbul seeks to differentiate itself is in network breadth and geographic reach. Turkish Airlines already serves more international destinations than any other airline, connecting more than 350 cities in over 130 countries. The carrier’s mixed narrow‑body and wide‑body fleet allows it to operate to secondary and tertiary destinations with smaller aircraft while still funnelling connecting traffic through its hub. The new infrastructure investments aim to give that network a physical home that can scale without choking on its own success.
Industry analysts note that Istanbul Airport has already emerged as one of the most connected hubs in the world, benefitting from flight path restrictions over parts of Russia that make certain routings via Türkiye more attractive. The expansion of cargo, maintenance and digital capabilities is designed to lock in those advantages, making it harder for competitors to lure traffic and partnerships away.
What It Means for Travelers and for Türkiye
For passengers passing through Istanbul in the coming years, the changes may be felt as much behind the scenes as at the gate. A vastly expanded cargo terminal, for instance, will not be visible to most travelers, but it will play a role in keeping global supply chains moving and in supporting more frequent flights as belly cargo demand grows. A huge catering center will help ensure meal consistency across an ever wider network, while more maintenance capacity can translate into higher aircraft availability and fewer schedule disruptions.
At the same time, the scale of Turkish Airlines’ ambitions is likely to translate into more nonstop destinations from Istanbul, denser frequencies on existing routes and a broader spread of fare options as the airline balances full‑service and low‑cost brands. As long as capacity growth keeps pace with demand, travelers may benefit from greater choice and competitive pricing on routes linking Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas via Türkiye.
For the country itself, the investment represents a bet that aviation can remain a central pillar of economic strategy. The projected rise in Turkish Airlines’ economic contribution to 144 billion dollars by 2033, if realized, would reinforce İstanbul’s role not just as a cultural and historical metropolis but as a critical node in global trade, tourism and data flows. The challenge will be to manage that growth sustainably, address environmental pressures and ensure that the benefits of a world‑leading hub extend beyond the airport perimeter.