IATA and Hasan Kalyoncu University agree world's largest aviation training partnership

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Hasan Kalyoncu University (HKU) announced a new partnership agreement to train more than 10,000 airport employees of the New Istanbul Airport.
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Scheduled to open in 2018, Istanbul New Airport is forecast to be one of the largest in the world, with a capacity of up to 200 million passengers once it reaches full operational capability. Turkish Civil Aviation regulations stipulate that all employees of the airport must complete specific training before the airport is granted its operating certificate. This means around 10,000 employees must be trained in 2017 and 2018. As further phases of the airport are opened up to 2023, the total number of employees requiring training could be as high as 100,000.

“We are honored to be able to work with HKU on preparing Istanbul’s new airport for success. This will be the largest training project that IATA has ever undertaken. And we are determined to exceed Istanbul New Airport’s expectations for its capable and industrious employees. Turkey’s vision and commitment to world-class air transport is clear to see and we hope this agreement marks just the start of a long and fruitful partnership,” said Rafael Schvartzman, IATA’s European regional vice president.

The HKU Rector Professor Dr. Tamer Yilmaz said: "Since the day it was founded, Hasan Kalyoncu University has constantly expanded its vision with an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. The most important task of a university is to offer education. However, it is also among the duties of a university to provide services that collectively benefit society. It is our honor to partner with IATA to carry out this training project aimed at raising qualified personnel for Istanbul's 3rd Airport, one of the world's largest airports. I hope that this protocol between Hasan Kalyoncu University and IATA will be beneficial and productive. "