Istanbul Atatürk Airport

Istanbul's Atatürk Airport has overtaken Frankfurt Airport to enter the top three busiest airports in Europe, Bloomberg has reported, based on 2015 passenger numbers. 

The shift came as Turkish Airlines continued its rapid expansion and strikes at Deutsche Lufthansa AG hurt the German hub.

Turkey's TAV Construction has once again become the world's largest airport construction company in 2015 on the global list released by the Engineering News-Record (ENR), the company announced in a press release on Jan. 4. 

The total contract value of the projects TAV Construction has undertaken so far has exceeded $17.2 billion.

Thousands of passengers were stranded on Jan. 1 in Istanbul's two main airports due to continuous heavy snowfall, adding to the cancelation of around 300 scheduled flights on Dec. 31, 2015.

"We have been waiting for two days. There are some 400 people here. If they notified us 24 hours before we would have adjusted our plans," a passenger named Ahmet Arslan told Do?an News Agency. 

Turkish authorities say they arrested 21 people who were seeking to cross illegally into Bulgaria on Saturday.

Another 26 were captured before entereing Greece from Turkey's northwest, Hürriyet Daily News reports.

Police have located passengers aboard a Turkish Airlines flight from Algeria to Istanbul that were mistakenly taken to the domestic terminal, therefore allowing them to enter Turkey without passing through passport control late on Nov. 30.

A janitor who discovered 24,500 euros ($26,000) in the bathroom of Istanbul's Ataturk Airport has been praised for his "good character and inner conscience."

Emrah Evrensel, who earns minimum wage -currently 1,000 Turkish Liras a month (approx. $350)- cleaning the airport's VIP area, found a bag full of cash on Nov. 6, which he then turned over to the authorities.

Turkey?s TAV Airports has plans to pursue new acquisitions abroad in line with a company decision taken two years ago, according to TAV CEO Sani ?ener. 

?TAV has become the operator of 69 airports across the world from being a company which ran 14 airports two years ago in line with our global growth vision. We will be soon in the Philippines? capital city of Manila.

Istanbul?s Atatürk Airport was declared the airport with the most new long-haul routes at the Euro Annies 2015 Awards, the airport?s operator, TAV Airports, said in a written statement on Sept. 15. 

Gazipa?a-Alanya Airport in Antalya was also selected the fastest growing airport in its category.

Turkish Airlines has been subjected to yet another hoax bomb call, this time on a plane heading from Oslo to Istanbul.

A Turkish Airlines plane flying on Aug. 13 from Oslo to Istanbul had to make an emergency landing at Istanbul's Atatürk Airport, which was its original destination, after a bomb threat. 

An Algerian passenger at Istanbul's Atatürk Airport broke the glass door of a passenger boarding bridge and began to run after a taxiing plane after he fell asleep in a waiting room.