Turkish Airlines has laid the foundation stone at a groundbreaking ceremony for its planned development at Istanbul Airport in Turkey (Turkiye), including a data center.

In total, the company is building eight new facilities at the airport and investing more than TRY 100 billion ($2.32bn).

Among the facilities will be a new data center, dubbed "Istanbul Data Center."

Details of the data center remain sparse, but Turkish Airlines is expecting it to become operational sometime during 2027-2028. According to the airline, the data center will "form the digital backbone of operational continuity," and is hoped to "elevate the company's technology capacity to a new level with its high-security infrastructure and advanced data management capabilities."

DCD has contacted the airline for more information about the proposed size and IT capacity of the facility.

Speaking at the ceremony, Turkish Airlines chairman of the board and executive committee, Ahmet Bolat, said: "In line with our 2033 targets, we are developing not only our fleet but also the robust infrastructure that will allow us to fully utilize this fleet.

"This investment initiative, exceeding TRY 100 billion and spanning from our cargo operations to our technical maintenance capacity, from our catering centers to integrated operational solutions, strengthens our global competitiveness and is concrete evidence of our vision to make Türkiye one of the world's foremost aviation hubs."

Other developments underway include a cargo center, catering center, engine maintenance facility, aircraft hangers, e-commerce buildings, and a crew terminal facility.

The airline previously completed a data center migration in 2016, at the time stating they were moving to a larger facility and adopting software-defined architectures.

Istanbul Airport is the largest airport in Turkey, located at the intersection of roads to Arnavutköy, Göktürk, and Çatalca, north of central Istanbul and between the Black Sea coast towns of Yeniköy, Tayakadın, and Akpınar.