ISTANBUL: The opening of Istanbul's third airport, a controversial multi-billion-dollar project expected to become one of the world’s busiest air hubs, has been delayed until 2018, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday. The facility had been scheduled to open on October 29, 2017 — the 94th anniversary of the founding of modern Turkey. “The airport project is made up of a total of four stages. According to the schedule, God willing, the first phase of the new airport in Istanbul will be operational in the first quarter of 2018,” Erdogan said at a ceremony to finalise funding for the project. He gave no reason for the delay.