The viral image shows Istanbul Airport in Turkey, not one in Uttar Pradesh

This viral image shows Istanbul Airport in Turkey and has no connection to Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath recently announced that the state will soon have 21 airports, making it the first state in India to achieve this milestone. Against this backdrop, an image showing an airport runway with multiple airplanes is going viral on social media with the claim that it is from Uttar Pradesh. The overlaid Hindi text translates to: “Uttar Pradesh has created history and has become the first state in the country to have 21 airports”.

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Fact Check- 

We started our investigation with the reverse image search on Google and the results led us to an article on a travel website named Conde Nast Traveler. The report contains the same image that is being circulated on social media claiming to be from an Uttar Pradesh airport. The caption states, “iGA Istanbul Airport has been chosen for the title of World’s Best International Airport Hub! With its modern design, advanced tech, seamless experience, and focus on sustainability, it’s the world’s most connected airport”.

According to the website, this image is of Turkey’s Istanbul Grand Airport (IGA). 

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The same article was also uploaded by the official Twitter handle of Istanbul Airport on 26 November, 2024.

Twitter link

Meanwhile, we checked whether Uttar Pradesh has 21 operational airports as claimed in the post. According to a Times of India report of March 2024, the Uttar Pradesh had 14 operational airports. As per the official data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s response to a Rajya Sabha question in March 2023, there were a total of 19 airports in the state, including the proposed Noida International Airport. Of these 19, five were non-operational, and one was under construction. 

Conclusion-Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the image to be Misleading. The viral image shows Istanbul Airport in Turkey and has no connection to Uttar Pradesh./