ORDU, Turkey
Turkey will open its 52nd airport in the northern province of Ordu Friday.
The Ordu-Giresun Airport is built on an artificial island along the seashore of Ordu, making it the first such facility outside the Far East.
The airport’s opening ceremony will be attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu at 2 p.m., local time (1100 GMT).
The airport will be the first of its kind in Turkey, as well as Europe, and eighth such facility in the world.
Around 35 million tons of rocks were used to fill 1.8 million square meters area of the sea.
Also, state-of-the-art technology was used to prevent "wild" waves from damaging the airport, Ordu Governor Irfan Balkanlioglu said in early May.
"A special material, stone mastic asphalt, was used to provide a comfortable departure and landing strip on the runway," he added.
The construction of the artificial island, which cost around 360 million Turkish liras ($132.6 million), began in July 2011.
The number of tourists and investors in the Black Sea region is expected to increase with the opening of the new airport.
By 2023, Turkey plans to have at least 60 airports, including the Hakkari-Yuksekova Airport in Turkey's southeast, as well as at least three airports in the southern province of Antalya.
