iGA Istanbul Airport Has Signed the Sister Airports Agreement with AOT and ACV.

iGA Istanbul Airport, Türkiye's premier international gateway and the pivotal global hub of the region, has entered into a Sister Airports Memorandum of Understanding with Airports of Thailand (AOT) in Bangkok, and with Airports Corporation of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City. Through this strategic collaboration, essential benefits will be offered to the economies of these countries, in addition to the tourism potential of Thailand and Vietnam.

iGA Istanbul Airport one of the most prestigious airports in the world, has signed a Sister Airports Memorandum of Understanding with Airports of Thailand (AOT). It has been announced that the cooperation agreement signed by Kadri Samsunlu, CEO of iGA Istanbul Airport, and Nitinai Sirismatthakarn, President of Airports of Thailand in Bangkok, Thailand, will add a new dimension to the relationship between the two countries.

Nitinai Sirismatthakarn, President of Airports of Thailand, emphasized that he is honored to participate in the event where the Memorandum of Understanding was signed by AOT and iGA Istanbul Airport, and added, "I would like to thank Kadri Samsunlu, CEO of iGA Istanbul Airport, and the senior management of iGA for attending this remarkable event in Bangkok. Today's signing ceremony will undoubtedly strengthen the partnership between AOT and iGA."

iGA Istanbul Airport has also signed an additional "Sister Airports" agreement in Vietnam. The Sister Airport Memorandum of Understanding, signed with Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) in Ho Chi Minh City, was endorsed by Kadri Samsunlu, CEO of iGA Istanbul Airport, Lai Xuan Thanh, Head of Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), and Nguyen Quoc Phuong, Vice Chairman.

Lai Xuan Thanh, Head of Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), said, "As the Airports Corporation of Vietnam, we are honored to sign a Sister Airports Agreement with iGA Istanbul Airport. In light of the rapid recovery of the civil aviation and tourism industries following the COVID-19 pandemic, this presents an exceptional opportunity for us. Türkiye acts as a crucial bridge connecting Asia and Europe, while Vietnam is strengthening its position, particularly in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. This collaboration will promote the discovery of new routes between the two regions and expand trade and investment opportunities."

"We believe in the importance of fostering strong stakeholder relationships and harnessing the power of shared intelligence..."

Kadri Samsunlu, CEO of iGA Istanbul Airport, declared that he is pleased to sign the Sister Airports Memorandum of Understanding between Airports of Thailand (AOT), Airports Corporation of Vietnam, and iGA Istanbul Airport. These three countries are recognized as critical destinations in terms of world tourism, and they are joining forces to foster collaboration in the aviation industry. Samsunlu said, "The focal point of the global economy is shifting from the West to the East. With its youthful population of 4.4 billion, Asia possesses significant potential due to its tourism capacities and dynamic economy. We currently inhabit an economic landscape in which the West consumes products originating from the East. This week, we are pleased to collaborate with our new sister airports, operating approximately 30 airports in Southeast Asia, including leading tourism destinations such as Bangkok, Phuket, and Hanoi. I believe there are significant economic expansion opportunities between Southeast Asia and Türkiye. Our airport hosts only six Asian airlines (50% of these only after the inauguration of iGA Istanbul Airport) in the world's largest aviation continent while operating a solid flight network across our unique geographical location where Europe, the Middle East, and Africa meet. We anticipate a significant increase in flight traffic from Asia towards the west in the medium term, which we believe holds immense growth potential. Our objective is to become the premier starting point for flights in Europe. The new Sister Airport agreements, signed today, will allow new flights to be routed to iGA Istanbul Airport, and facilitate the connection of traffic from South Asia and, indirectly, from the Asia-Pacific regions to iGA Istanbul Airport. This will contribute to the country's economy by attracting thousands of tourists to visit our country through Istanbul. On behalf of the iGA Istanbul Airport team, who firmly believe in fostering close stakeholder relationships and harnessing the power of collective knowledge, I hope that our Asia-centric growth strategy, which has been implemented in collaboration with China and South Korea, and now extended to Thailand (AOT) and Vietnam (ACV), brings prosperity to our industry and organizations."

Sister Airport Agreements serve to officially outline the process of exchanging best practices in technical, commercial, and environmental aspects of airports. Sister Airport agreements cover the formation of collaborative task groups to cooperate in various areas, including airport management, customer services, construction, planning, operations, information technology, and sustainable development. Although this agreement does not inherently contain any binding provisions for the parties involved, the CEOs of the member airports meet annually to exchange ideas. iGA Istanbul Airport had previously signed Sister Airport agreements with Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN) in South Korea, Capital Airports Holdings Ltd. (CAH), the Shanghai Airport Authority (SAA) of China, and Copenhagen Airport (CPH) in Denmark.