2 yıl önce

Istanbul Airport resumes flights

Airport officials said that one of the airport's three runways had been cleared of snow and that de-icing work continued.

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Istanbul Airport, one of Turkiye’s mega-projects, handled 37 million passengers last year, has become Europe's busiest for the second year running.

Europe's busiest airport in Istanbul has "gradually" resumed normal operations after a blizzard shut it down for a day, the head of Turkish Airlines said.

"Flights have gradually begun returning to normal," Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Eksi tweeted on Wednesday.

Istanbul Airport closed on Monday for the first time since it took over from the old Ataturk Airport as the global hub of Turkish Airlines in 2019.

The airport handled just a handful of flights on Tuesday, mostly allowing airborn transatlantic flights to land.

But officials said 131 domestic and international flights were due to take off and land by 1:00 pm (1000 GMT) Wednesday, helping clear a massive backlog.

Istanbul Havalimanında kademeli olarak seferler normale dönmeye başladı.

Saat 07-13 arasında (geliş ve gidiş) 131 sefer planlandı.

Lütfen Havalimanlarına gelmeden seferinizin durumunu Web sitemizden kontrol ediniz.⤵️
https://t.co/lkBckVrvAM
— Bilal EKŞİ (@BilalEksiTHY) January 26, 2022

Airport officials told AFP that only one of the airport's three runways had been cleared of snow and that de-icing work continued.

A blizzard that reached Istanbul last weekend paralised traffic and shut down basic services in the city of 16 million, some parts of which were covered by 85 centimetres (2.8 feet) of snow.

Officials urged citizens not to use private cars unless essential. Universities were closed until Monday and buses were banned from entering or leaving the city until Wednesday morning.

Istanbul Airport, one of Turkiye’s mega-projects, handled 37 million passengers last year, has become Europe's busiest for the second year running.