I had an urgent trip to Ankara on Saturday. After concluding my morning meetings at Solarex Solar Energy Fair, I needed to catch the first flight I could find that afternoon. Since Solarex was being held at the CNR Fair near Atatürk Airport, we tried to book our flight from Atatürk Airport. However, we received a message saying, “There are no longer any flights from Atatürk Airport; there are flights from the new airport.” Instead of Sabiha Gökçen, I booked my flight from the new Istanbul Airport, which is, of course, on the European side, for 2:00 PM.
The night before, my driver, Mr. Münir, and I were discussing how we would handle the logistics. The following conversation took place (he started the conversation):
– All the news channels are talking about the road closures, Mr. Serhan. How are we going to do this? So, it would be better if you went from Sabiha Gökçen. There’s no telling what will happen at this airport.
– It doesn’t make sense to go all the way from Atatürk Airport to Sabiha Gökçen. The new airport is much closer.
– The navigation says 31 km. That’s also far away. “Yes, but there’s traffic on one bridge, and the other way around.
– They’re saying they’ll close the roads and make it a single lane. I don’t think we should take that risk.”
– (As always, I’m the risk-taker.) If there are no problems with the appointments we made in the morning, this is the best way. I can’t go to Sabiha Gökçen Airport from CNR. (After confirming the appointments) I’ll take the risk. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. We’ll leave home at 8 a.m. tomorrow.”
Parking Problems at Ataköy Marina
Saturday, we did exactly as planned. We had breakfast at Happy Moons in Ataköy Marina at 9 a.m. with a Mersin-based EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) company. Meanwhile, I’m calling out to those who run Ataköy Marina: Construction is everywhere again. Entrances and exits aren’t clear. For God’s sake, make this a tidy place. The valets in front of the restaurants still won’t let anyone park. We’re sick and tired of these mafioso valets. Don’t engage us in conversations with people like this just to make a buck. Plan properly. How can there not be a decent parking lot in such a venue? How can valets harass those who want to wait there?
Anyway, let’s not stray from the topic now. Just remembering this made me furious again.
After Ataköy Marina, we went to the CNR fairgrounds where Solarex is located. There were no roadblocks. Although we were late (the conversation with the EPC company on technology, innovation, and the industry was good), we were able to attend the ‘Energy Storage’ Conference at Solarex. You can find details of this event at https://www.ibesalliance.org/index.php?id=146.
Conference Highlights
Of course, it’s a Turkish classic; we were late, but so was the conference, so we didn’t miss much. The first three talks I particularly wanted to hear were:
Understanding the Value Stream in Energy Storage: A Holistic View of the Past, Present, and Future.
Markus A.W. Hoehner, CEO, International Battery Storage Alliance (IBESA)
International Perspective: Best Practices and Lessons Learned
Jonathan Gifford, Editor-in-Chief, PV Magazine
Assessing Core Technologies and Application Cross-Sections for Energy Storage Systems
Helen Yu, Senior ESS Project Development Manager, BYD
Afterward, I met with Markus Hoehner, CEO of IBESA. I ran out of Solarex around 12:30.
Signs or navigation? 🙂
My driver, who was trying to keep up with the navigation along the way and was hesitating at a junction, had the following conversation (I started the conversation):
- The sign in front of you says Istanbul Airport, which is huge. You’re still trying to find your way with the navigation (I actually like that he uses the navigation. I had a hard time getting my driver used to it. I said that just to tease him).
- If we miss the route here, you’ll miss the plane, sir. I check my navigation to make sure.
- There you go. You should look at both, then.
The road was very smooth. Our perverse logic has struck again. Those in Istanbul, especially the Yeşilköy area, hadn’t set out because the airport was about to be moved. The road was empty. We quickly connected to the highway and arrived at the new airport in 25 minutes, around 1:00 PM.
I went through security easily. My first impression was this: The airport looks really stylish. It suits our Istanbul. As they say, it’s endless. After entering the airport, I took some souvenir photos. The following images emerged:
I’m sharing a picture of the information boards to give you an idea:
There’s a considerable distance between the first and second security checkpoints. For someone who enjoys movement, this wasn’t a problem at all. I quickly made my way to the second security checkpoint. Then I took a picture of the corridor I encountered again:
It was around 1:20 PM when I arrived at the gate. There was a long line.
The beginning of the long line
The board above the counter
I went to the counter and asked, “When will you be boarding?” When I got the answer, “In about 10 minutes,” I sat down in an empty seat. I turned on my laptop and started working.
The view from the counter
The information board above the counter
Meanwhile, I managed to capture our flight. Here are the shots:
The moment the historical coincidence dawned on me
As soon as I reached the gate, the line I’d observed was broken up by an announcement. Then, there was another announcement along the lines of, “Boarding will begin shortly.” The line formed again in the same place. I was finishing an email you were writing at the time. After sending the message, I pulled myself together, looked up, and noticed a strange queue. Because I fly a lot, I’m an Elite Plus member (Turkish Airlines’ highest-tier membership category). Since Elite Plus and Elite members have priority boarding, I tried to find our boarding seat. I went back to the desk and asked the ground stewardess, “Where do Elite Plus members board?” The stewardess replied, Right this way, please.” I decided to wait there; there was no one else there. Two minutes later, people started lining up behind me. As I waited to board, it suddenly dawned on me. I asked the ground stewardess, “Was there another flight before this one?” No, when you say this is the first flight, do you mean I’ll be the first to board on this first flight?” I asked. He replied, “Yes.” Just then, cameras and some officials arrived. They were recording this historic moment.
At that moment, seeing the cameras, it dawned on me again, and I thought, I need to record this, too. I shot the video below from my cell phone.
The video ended, and boarding began. I turned off the camera, opened the other screen on my phone, opened my electronic boarding pass, and passed through, showing my ID. The cameras were still filming the officials. This image emerged:
Then, as I was walking through the boarding gate, I thought, I need to record this historic moment again. I turned on the camera, and this footage emerged:
The first passenger stepping onto the first plane
In other words, I was the first passenger to board the first flight from the new Istanbul Airport after Atatürk Airport was relocated. I then took my seat in the aisle, in seat 10C. The other two passengers next to me arrived shortly thereafter. Boarding was completed around 1:45 p.m. Afterward, Turkish Airlines General Manager Bilal Ekşi gave a speech inside the plane. Here’s the speech: Here’s a section:
After various announcements, the doors closed, but when the plane continued to move along the runway for nearly half an hour, I couldn’t resist and joked with the people next to me, “They’re probably going to take us to Ankara by land.” The people next to me laughed. Then the person sitting by the window said, “I think they’re filming in front of the plane, that’s why we’re constantly moving by land.” Spending so much time on the ground allowed me to share my social media posts. The plane took off half an hour later, and the announcements came one after another. I’d like to share the speech made by the foreign pilot:
I’d also like to share the announcement made by the Turkish pilot during the half-hour wait inside the plane:
The plane landed in Ankara around 3:20 PM after a comfortable flight. Later, from messages from my friends and the news I read, I understood why we were advancing so much on the ground. Here are the images:
This is a news report about the historic flight: http://m.hurriyet.com.tr/galeri-istanbul-havalimaninda-buyuk-goc-sonrasi-ilk-ucus-heyecani-41174171/1
“You made history earlier than I expected”
One of my friends who messaged me teased me, “Serhan, you made history much earlier than I expected. Congratulations.”
It’s a wonderful feeling to be a part of history. However, I also want to say that I agree with many of the criticisms about the airport. For example, I think the new airport should be named “Istanbul Atatürk Airport.”
Worker deaths and tree felling
There were also two reasons for the intense controversy surrounding the construction of this airport. The first was the deaths of many workers during construction (I pray for their mercy and offer my condolences to their families).
The second was the criticism that a significant number of trees had been cut down to make way for the airport and its connecting roads, a massacre of nature. This was shared in the press and on social media. I was curious about this issue and asked a botanical company we work with: Could this work be done without cutting down so many trees in this region, often referred to as the lungs of Istanbul? The company’s boss replied, “By using a viaduct system, the highway would be routed above the trees, and only the trees at the base would be cut or transplanted (which would be my preferred approach), tree felling could be significantly limited.” “Of course, building a viaduct is much more expensive than clear-cutting, but you don’t harm nature this way,” he said.
I believe this expense was worth the cost for nature’s protection. At the very least, precautions should be taken to prevent further damage in the future.
Being one with nature is our fundamental right. We must not forget this when providing services to people.
Tag: special days
