Hasan Polatkan Airport, which is operated by Eskisehir Technical University (ESTU) and went down in history as the first “university airport” in the world and the only “university airport” in Turkey with its operating license in 2007, serves 100 thousand passengers a year, including pilgrimage and umrah flights to Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands.
Hasan Polatkan Airport was first opened to traffic in 1989 as ‘Eskisehir Anadolu Airport’ in order to carry out the training activities of the Pilotage and Air Traffic Control departments of the Civil Aviation Vocational School, which formed the foundations of ESTU Faculty of Aviation and Space Sciences.
Later, it organized scheduled flights on Istanbul-Eskisehir-Bodrum and Istanbul-Eskisehir lines by various airline companies. In 2007, it became the 21st airport licensed under the ‘Airport Construction, Operation and Certification Regulation’ by the General Directorate of Civil Aviation.
Hasan Polatkan Airport has received the title of being the first university airport in the world and the only university airport in Turkey with this license.
Hasan Polatkan Airport, which reached runway dimensions of 3 thousand meters in length and 45 meters in width, with the infrastructure work carried out in 2011 in line with the demands of airline companies; serves 100 thousand passengers a year, including pilgrimage and umrah flights to Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands.
The airport traffic, whose number of passengers reached 27 thousand as of July 2021, continues to increase in the summer period.
’47 thousand passengers benefited during the pandemic’
ESTU Rector Prof. Dr. Tuncay Dogeroglu stated that they served 47 thousand passengers during the pandemic period last year, “Currently, we are carrying out international flights to 6 different destinations in 4 countries, Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands. The first flights started to Belgium, especially within the scope of the demands of our compatriots residing in Brussels to come to Turkey. There are around 20 trips a week.”
Dogeroglu said, “Before the pandemic, our annual number of passengers was around 100 thousand. Despite the pandemic last year, 47 thousand passengers benefited from our airport. Our airport serves not only Eskisehir but also the region. Mostly international flights, but air taxi, firefighting planes, ambulance plane service, CIP-VIP flights are also made. Mostly international flights, but air taxi, firefighting planes, ambulance plane service, CIP-VIP flights are also made. With the license it has, it is called the 21st licensed airport in Turkey. It has gone down in history as the first and only university airport in the world to have this license.”
Kubra Kabal, who came to Eskisehir by plane from Brussels, stated that she was pleased with the airport and said, “The airport is very nice. At least we are landing in our own city. Passengers getting off here disperse to many places such as Kutahya and Afyonkarahisar.”
Source: Sabah / Translated by Irem Yildiz