Transportation

Hatay, which is the 4th largest in the Mediterranean region and 13th largest city in Turkey, meets the demand for passenger and freight traffic by land route, air route and sea route. Hatay is located in the south of our country and is easily accessible geographically. The city has links to national and international road networks. International transitions are provided to Hatay by Hatay Airport, İskenderun Port, Yayladağı and CilveGözü Customs Gates. These national and international connections offer easy and fast access to the city. Hatay Airport is 30 km away from İskenderun district and 27 km away from Antakya district. Hatay International Airport, which has been in operation since 2007, has 10 scheduled domestic flights per day with 5 different airlines (1 Ankara, 1 İzmir, 1 Antalya, 7 İstanbul [3 Atatürk Airport- 4 SabihaGökçen Airport]) and 4 scheduled international flights (2 TRNC, 1 Jeddah, and 1 Riyadh Qatar). And there are about 14 international flights in total.

City	Population (2015)	Population (2023)
Adana	2.183.167	2.286.167
Gaziantep	1.931.836	2.257.278
Kahramanmaraş	1.096.610	1.104.876
Kilis	130.655	130.239
Mersin	1.745.221	1.809.508
Osmaniye	512.873	534.459
Toplam	7.600.362	8.122.527

Highway Network

Regarding transportation to EXPO 2021 İskenderun site, İskenderun bus terminal provides big opportunity with its 21 intercity bus management to all Turkey. The distance between İskenderun and Ankara is approximately 7 hours and 54 minutes. The distance between İzmir and İskenderun is 1053.5 km and takes approximately 11 hours and 42 minutes by car. The distance between Gaziantep and İskenderun is approximately 2 hours and 18 minutes. The distance between Adana and İskenderun is 134 km and it takes approximately 1 hour and 27 minutes. The distance between İstanbul and İskenderun is 1063 km and it takes approximately 12 hours and 13 minutes.

Seaway Network

İskenderun Port (Limakport İskenderun) is one of the most important ports of the Mediterranean in container (cargo) and transit vehicle transportation with its 15.5-meter berth depth, 920-meter berth length, 8 berths, and 1.000.000 m2 port area and railway connection. Besides Hatay, TR63 Region, Southeast and East Anatolia regions, İskenderun Port serves the transit trade of Middle East countries which does not have coasts to Mediterranean, Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.² liman sahası ve demiryolu bağlantısı ile Akdeniz’in konteyner (kargo)ve transit araç taşımacılığında en önemli limanlarından biridir.  İskenderun Limanı,Hatay ve TR63 Bölgesi yanında Güneydoğu ve Doğu Anadolu bölgelerinin ticareti ile Akdeniz’e, Kızıldeniz’e ve Basra Körfezi’ne kıyıları bulunmayan Ortadoğu ülkelerinin transit ticaretlerine hizmet etmektedir.

In addition, İskenderun Port increases the potential of contributing to the tourism of the region in the city of Hatay by providing the opportunity to develop cruise passenger transportation in Samandağ and İskenderun with its port technical infrastructure and experience. The Iskenderun and İsdemir ports in our city are more prominent with the transfer function in commercial shipments for Middle Eastern countries. When considering the impact zone and hinterland of these ports, it is not limited with only Hatay and Turkey, so in the future passenger transport processes in these ports are among the targets. After completing the leave process and port planning of Hatay Sea Bus expedition, which is gained with the ‘HADO’ project, sea buses will be organized from Samandağ and İskenderun to Mersin Marina, Cyprus Famagusta and Lebanon Beirut. Within the scope of the project, the nature of the vessels to be used in international waters will be 45 knots and will be capable of transporting 330 people at a time. Restaurant services and cargo services will also be available in these vessels. In this regard, the ports in question are among the most important ports of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East and have the potential to make significant gains to the region in the commercial dimension. HADO will be a great opportunity for those who prefer the sea route in the EXPO 2021. With these ships; İskenderun-Mersin 1 hour 48 minutes, İskenderun Famagusta 2 hours 50 minutes, Samandağ-Beirut 3 hours 25 minutes. If the project is implemented, Hatay’s connection primarily with Turkey and then with the world will also be provided by the sea route.

Airway Network

Hatay airport is 25km away from the city centre. During the EXPO 2021 event, it is foreseen that most of the domestic and foreign visitors are expected to visit Hatay by Airway. Regarding EXPO 2021 transportation, International Hatay Airport is capable of carrying all visitors and will provide great convenience for visitors who prefer airway. İskenderun EXPO area is 60 km away from the Hatay Airport. And the distance between İskenderun and Adana Airport is 138 km and it takes approximately 1 hour and 34 minutes. The distance between Iskenderun and Hatay Airport take approximately 1 hour and 7 minutes. The flight time from Hatay to İstanbul varies from 1 hour 35 minutes to 1 hour 50 minutes. Pegasus, THY (Turkish Airlines) and Anadolu jet provide flights. The flight time from Hatay to Ankara is 1 hour and 15 minutes. Qatar Airlines flights directly to Antakya 3 days a week. In summer seasons, direct flights from Hatay to Europe especially to Germany are also taking place. In this respect, our Airport connects Hatay nationally and internationally every active airfields in the world.

Railway Network

There is only 1 passenger train operating between Mersin and İskenderun line in our city. İskenderun-Mersin Regional Express train stops only in the centres where passenger is crowded. The high speed train services to Osmaniye, Adana and Mersin have not started yet. But this railway was built before the Republic.

Some of the transportation time of the lime, this is a mutual trip each day;

• From İskenderun to Dörtyol, 35 minutes,
• From İskenderun to Adana, 2 hours and 15 minutes,
• From İskenderun to Tarsus, 2 hours and 55 minutes,
• From İskenderun to Mersin, 3 hours and 25 minutes,
• From Dörtyol to Adana, 1 hour and 40 minutes,
• From Dörtyol to Mersin, 2 hours and 50 minutes,

Hatay is connected to the intercity road network by a divided road from Belen district. After Belen, the highway option can be used next to the divided road. This comfortable, safe and fast highway is connecting Hatay to Osmaniye, Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Adıyaman, Mardin and more cities located on the east of the country; and Adana, Mersin, Antalya, Niğde, Kapadokya (Cappadocia), Ankara and İstanbul via Adana. However, there are daily trains departing from İskenderun, İskenderun port, to big districts via Adana and Mersin.

How will the transportation demand be met?

It is foreseen that most of the visitors will be transferred by EXPO shuttle buses to the EXPO 2021 Hatay Kisecik area. It is thought that some of the visitors will prefer private cars and taxis for transportation. The rest is expected to use the municipal network. In the EXPO area, tour buses, EXPO Ring buses, private vehicles, taxis and municipal buses are examined separately and it is foreseen that the number of EXPO service buses and EXPO taxis will be increased especially in case of mass visits.

It is seen that transportation from Hatay Airport to Antakya and İskenderun, Havaş vehicles are served and at the same time, there are public transportation services towards the city centre. Also, it will be possible to get transportation service from Hatay Airport by rental cars and commercial taxis. For EXPO transportation, Hatay Airport is 25 km away from Antakya centre and 45 km away from İskenderun.

It is foreseen that the most intense visitor entry will be between 14:00 and 21:00 at weekends. The area is planned to open at 10 o’clock and kept open until midnight. Transportation systems’ planning is provided for guests who want to visit the EXPO area without any trouble.

EXPO Shuttle

EXPO shuttle services will be organized to allow visitors to access comfortably. Most of the visitors are expected to use these shuttles and come to the EXPO areas. At certain times of the day, certain routes will be determined for transportation to Antakya and İskenderun EXPO areas. Particularly in the two EXPO areas, transporting ring services to those who wish to visit the EXPO areas are planned to connect these two areas, considering that the services will pass through certain routes at certain times.EXPO shuttle services, which are expected to be set at certain times of the day, will eliminate parking problems in the area and will allow the visitors easy access to the EXPO area.

Bus

It is foreseen that students coming from Hatay and its surroundings will be provided with transportation. It is thought that all of the students and tourists will use buses to come to the EXPO areas. In addition, it is assumed that visitors coming from nearby cities will also use buses to come to the EXPO area.

Private Vehicle – Taxi

Turkey attaches great importance to transportation investments because of its geographical position as a bridge between Asia and Europe.The existing road network in the country plays an important role in the development of the country.It is thought that some of the local visitors will come to Hatay with their private vehicles or taxis. In this direction, parking spaces were planned for visitors coming with their private cars.

Municipality Bus

Some of the visitors will come to the fairground using various public transport and paratransit public transport systems. The number of Municipal Buses in public transportation is 4218. It is assumed that half of the visitors from the Hatay city will use municipal buses. Although the calculations are made with average values bus routes, frequency of voyages, number of vehicles and occupancy rates may vary greatly during the day.

Visitor Transportation Requirement

It is expected that 80% of approximately 2.5 million visitors who are expected to visit EXPO 2021 Hatay will be foreign visitors. It is expected that 90 percent of the local visitors will come from the settlements at least 6 hours away from Hatay and all of them will prefer highway transportation. There are two routes to get to the EXPO area in İskenderun from the İskenderun bus terminal: Arsuz road and Antakya road.

Hatay Public Transportation Systems

Public transportation in the city is under the authority and responsibility of the Metropolitan Municipality of Hatay. Municipal buses provide transportation between city centre and surrounding neighbourhoods. Transportation to the surrounding villages is done by minibuses. The frequencies of the buses vary according to certain hours of the day. In order to provide transportation to the areas in time of EXPO, special extra services are planned.

Access to the Expo Area

One of the areas of the EXPO 2021 Hatay, Kisecik Village, is connected to the Antakya. The map location of Antakya Expo is 36° 15’ 5.0688’’ North and 36° 5’ 30.7572’’ East GPS coordinates. The map location of İskenderun Expo is 36°32’33.25” North and 36° 6’15.57” East GPS coordinates.