Passengers at Ataturk International Airport, in Istanbul, sit near the empty check-in counters, Friday, April 5, 2019, ahead of its closure. (AP photo)

ISTANBUL, April 5 (Xinhua) -- The mission of the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul is coming to an end on Saturday, as the efforts to move to the new airport comes to the final stage on Friday.

A giant logistical operation started early in the day and will last around 45 hours.

A total of 10,000 pieces of equipment, weighing 47,000 tons in total, will be carried over to their new home by more than 700 trucks, with the involvement of 1,800 personnel, the Turkish Airlines said in a statement.

The airlines described the operation as "the largest move in the history of global civil aviation."

During the relocation, major highways and several linking roads are closed to traffic to ensure the security of the operation.

All the scheduled flights at Ataturk Airport will end on Saturday at 2:00 a.m (2300 GMT) with the last flight to Singapore, according to the statement.

There will be no commercial flights in between 2:00 a.m and 2:00 p.m on Saturday at both airports, until when the new Istanbul Airport will be operational, the statement noted.

The first phase of Istanbul Airport was inaugurated on Oct. 29 last year.

During its initial stage, the airport is expected to serve 90 million passengers annually. When the remaining phases are completed by 2028, it will be capable of serving 200 million passengers.