Turkey launches tender to build world's biggest airport

ISTANBUL (AFP) - Turkey launched on Thursday a tender to build in Istanbul what aims to be the world's largest airport at an estimated cost of over 7 billion euros (S$11.44 billion), an official from the country's airports authority said.

"As of today, interested firms can start doing their math on the project and decide if they want to apply on May 3 when the tender closes," he told AFP on condition of anonymity as the project documents became available.

The project foresees the construction of a six-runway airport eventually capable of handling 150 million passengers per year, Transport Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters on Wednesday.

That would far outpace Hartsfield-Jackson airport in the United States (US) city of Atlanta, which is currently the world's busiest with over 90 million passengers likely to have been served in 2012.