Aviation Turkey: Could you please briefly introduce yourself and the position of Terminal Construction Corporate Group in the Turkish aviation? Also, could you share with us your activities and your vision in terms of aviation?

Alp Delimollaoğlu: I am a civil engineer graduated from Istanbul Technical University. The flagship of our Group, Terminal Construction and affiliate companies have taken part in nearly 40 airport projects, especially those that are directed by the Ministry of Defense’s Construction and NATO Infrastructure Department since the beginning of the 1970s.

Terminal Group secured the tender for the ‘Ercan Airport Transfer of Operation Rights’ in 2012 which subsequently generated indispensable airport construction experience over the years and significant involvement in civil airport operations. Recently we won the tender for the Çeşme – Alaçatı International Airport Build, Operate, Transfer (BOT) Project and we are currently working on building the infrastructure and facilities that will operate to enable the training and professional development of the staff required for General Aviation, Recreational Aviation and the Aviation sector in Turkey.

Based on the development of our projects, we also are focusing great effort toward extending our business volume regarding aviation and high technology; our expectation is to include this within the structure of our group.

Aviation Turkey: Terminal Construction Corporate Group’s name has been often heard with the Çeşme – Alaçatı Airport Build, Operate and Transfer Project tender that it recently won. How did you become interested in this project, and what are your plans within this scope?

Alp Delimollaoğlu: Actually, we use these definition “From Dreams to Thoughts, from Thoughts to Philosophy and from Philosophy to Project” for this unique process. The demand for pilots, cabin attendants, technicians, flight dispatchers and even aviation managers has been increasing naturally in line with the development and growth of commercial aviation in the world as well as in our country, therefore developing businesses which may be affiliated with the training facilities for fulfilling the aforementioned demand in addition to overall Aviation activities has been within the sphere of our interest for a long time; we were dreaming of ways to actualize these activities. Then, by seizing the opportunity to realize our dreams by winning the BOT tender for the Çeşme - Alaçatı International Airport, instead of forming a basic airport organization, we formed the ‘Sky Campus’ philosophy as an aviation ecosystem with interrelated layers supporting each other and which ultimately elevated us to our final target.

In line with this ecosystem philosophy set over a layered development structure and the task of which we assumed the BOT responsibility, we determined our targets and graded our contractual responsibilities as well as our targets alongside these responsibilities. This philosophy really helped us in building the phased development structure that accumulated within the development project.

The Çeşme - Alaçatı General Aviation Airport which is currently under construction will feature all the administrative, operational, technical and technological facilities at international standards demanded by General Aviation as well as training centers, practice, shopping, and entertainment and accommodation centers when all phases are completed. The project of the Çeşme - Alaçatı International Airport will be Turkey’s first General Aviation Airport and it is identified as a ‘Sky Campus’ project.

Targeting based on a philosophy and the development and content based on the systematic approach to achieve these targets already reveal our plans for the future quite clearly.

Aviation Turkey: Which distinctive features will Çeşme- Alaçatı Airport have in terms of tourism, economy and social life? What contributions will it make to Turkish aviation in this sense?

Alp Delimollaoğlu: In this structure designed as a project, we will be a General Aviation, Recreational Aviation, Sky Diving Training and Practice Base as of June 2020. The facilities as part of the initial phase of our development project included in the contract will be our country’s greatest and will be among the league of Europe’s greatest.

With the launch of the facility and implementations containing the other project layers concerning life at the Çeşme – Alaçatı International Airport, we aim to extend tourism visas which presently are limited to a period of 90 days up to 180 days, and even to 240 days with different types of tourism implementations with reformed structure and content in addition to enabling improvement in the quality and quantity of the tourists visiting the region.

In summary, we aim to expand our term linked with tourism in Çeşme as well as increase the number of arriving tourists and improve quality in order to contribute to the tourism economy of our country. We believe that Çeşme increases the value it deserves each day and soon it will reach a position beyond our dreams.

Aviation Turkey: Will there be any differences between your company’s previous experiences and present implementations and its approach towards Turkey’s future aviation projects? For instance, which type of new initiatives will we be hearing about from Terminal Construction Corporate Group in the next stage?

Alp Delimollaoğlu: Presently, we are conducting our activities focused on this project in order to successfully complete the Çeşme - Alaçatı International Airport - the future of General Aviation in our country - which is our Group’s most critical business in the aviation area.

In the near future, we will bring in new initiatives on account of the intellectual power and experience that we own in airport operations related to general aviation. We assess that the Terminal Group will also be one of the candidates in the tender process regarding Atatürk Airport of which we are going through the adaptive re-use process.

Aviation Turkey: Will the companies under the Terminal Construction Corporate Group have developments containing innovation as well as conceptual and practical novelties in their engineering and aviation implementations? If so, what type of impact will these have on a national and global scale?

Alp Delimollaoğlu: “From Dreams to Thoughts, from Thoughts to Philosophy and from Philosophy to Project” , our process that I shared in relation to the Çeşme - Alaçatı International Airport is in fact a model and a development innovation.

We also have certain endeavors that demonstrate a new approach during the foundation of intellectual power and experiences supporting this process.

We will embrace model values if the results of our efforts are positive and we will build cooperation with well- known brands on a national and global scale based on common sense in the businesses within the layered ecosystem of our project.

Apart from the aforementioned, this airport which we will operate, has a local structure with natural stones and architectural features that have drawn the attention of the world throughout the history of human kind and it bears the opportunities to benefit from the use of renewable sources of energy as a result of our location. Therefore, it will not be a surprise to see this airport becoming a candidate at certain global competitions.

I can certainly say that there will be remarkable achievements in industrial, architectural and environmental terms in the region in addition to tourism when all of these activities are successfully completed. I look forward with hope toward meeting targets and contributing to the long awaited and much deserved pride which will be enjoyed by our country and our people as a result.

Aviation Turkey: This is our first published issue of Aviation Turkey magazine. Which novelties do you expect for announcing and developing your activities as the Terminal Construction Corporate Group in our future issues?

Alp Delimollaoğlu: We are happy and excited that with its interesting vision, mission and its ethical approach which needs to be held up as an example, Aviation Turkey magazine has started its publication life with the motto “Global Communication Conduit of Turkish Aviation” and will be covering the rapid developments in both operational and industrial terms…

In addition to the activities and innovative implementations, with your endeavors to contribute toward achieving remarkable developments in terms of both aviation, tourism and the economy in this structure, I believe that the Terminal Group companies’ constant existence within this structure will have a positive impact on all parties involved.

We will always be pleased to see you among us, both throughout the construction process and during the launch of implementations; hereby I would like to repeat my wishes for your success