The foundation of the second terminal building at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport will be laid in the first quarter of 2020.

With the introduction of the second terminal building, the airport's passenger capacity will rise from its current 41 million to 66 million. The new terminal building will be built on the section between the two runways.

During the construction of the second terminal, the current terminal will continue serving passengers, Ersel Göral, CEO of Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport Terminal Operator ISG said Tuesday.

He noted that the airport will have reached about 36 million passengers by the end of 2019.

According to Göral, the existing terminal building can handle 41 million passengers annually and almost 90% of this capacity is being used currently.

He added that the construction of a second runway is ongoing. "Once the second runway is completed, our capacity will be doubled on the side of the runway, which we call the airside. So we need to increase the terminal capacity in order to respond to the increased capacity on the airside. I hope we can lay the foundation for our second terminal building in the first quarter of next year."

Göral said the new runway will be in category 3, which means that aircraft can land and take off in all weather conditions.

He said the terminal building will be completed and enter service in the second half of 2021. He noted that the building will have a space of 180,000 square meters and an annual capacity of 25 million passengers.

With two terminal buildings and two runways, Sabiha Gökçen Airport will have a passenger capacity of approximately 66 million passengers as of early 2021.

Elaborating on the airport's international flight network, the ISG CEO said the company’s primary goal is to increase the number of transoceanic flights or long-haul flights.

"This year has been very important for us since we carried out our first long-haul flight in Sabiha Gökçen Airport's history. Two weeks ago, Malaysia Airlines operated a direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Sabiha Gökçen. The high occupancy rate may continue into the summer season in line with demand. We also aim to ensure a great number of flights by flag carriers and full-service airline companies," he said.