Sabiha Gokcen International Airport is one of the two international airports serving Istanbul. Located 35 km (22 mi) southeast of central Istanbul, Sabiha Gokcen is on the Asian side of the bi-continental city and serves as the hub for Pegasus Airlines as well as a base for Turkish Airlines and Borajet.
The airport was built because Atatürk International Airport was not large enough to meet the booming passenger demands (both domestic and international). SAW’s international terminal capacity originally was 3 million passengers per year and the domestic terminal capacity was 0.5 million passengers per year. In 2010, Sabiha Gokcen airport handled 11,129,472 passengers, a 71% increase compared to 2009. The airport was planning (in 2011) to host 25 million passengers by 2023, but handled more than 28 million passengers in 2015 already.
In September 2010, the airport was voted the World’s Best Airport at the World Low Cost Airlines Congress in London and received the award. The other awards received by the airport in 2010 were: Turkey’s Most Successful Tourism Investment 2010.
Sabiha Gokcen International Airport is the second busiest single-runway airport in the world (London Gatwick has two runways but can only work as a single-runway airport).