The runway in Gazipasa Airport, located in eastern Antalya, will be expanded and the area surrounding the runway will soon be nationalized, a local government official has said.

Gazipasa Gov. Ismail Gültekin told the Anatolia news agency that the airport’s 1,800-meter runway should be extended to 2,400 meters by the end of September to allow larger airplanes to land. “The 50-hectare land around the airport should be state-owned for this purpose. We have met 10 different land owners who all agreed to sell their land and signed an initial contract.”

Tepe Akfen Ventures Airports Holding, the operator of the airport, has started preparations for expansion and lighting works, Gültekin added. 

When the expansion works are completed, bigger planes such as Boeing 737-300s and Boeing 737-500s will be able to use Gazipa?a Airport, both for scheduled and charter flights. “Such flights will meet the region’s demands and help a tourism boom in Alanya and Gazipa?a,” said Gültekin.

Gazipasa Airport opened last month but has yet to receive its first commercial flight. It is expected help the eastern Alanya-Mersin route develop and ease traffic in the western Alanya-Antalya direction.