The national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) announced free flights from Adana, Adıyaman, Gaziantep, Kayseri, Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, Malatya, Elazığ, Kahramanmaraş provinces late on Tuesday as part of earthquake relief efforts, as per THY's Senior VP for Media Relations, Yahya Üstün.
THY has flown thousands of volunteers to the cities that were struck by devastating earthquakes on Monday in southeastern Türkiye, and had earlier fixed prices to enable repatriations of citizens from the region.
Footage, released on Tuesday, showed thousands of volunteers flocking to Istanbul Airport eager to engage in assistance and rescue efforts after quakes centered in Kahramanmaraş affected 10 provinces and hit neighboring Syria.
The quakes toppled thousands of buildings, including many apartment blocks, wrecked hospitals and left thousands injured or homeless.
“About 11,780 citizen volunteers, who came to airports to go to the earthquake zone following an AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Authority) invitation, were taken to Adana, Gaziantep, Adiyaman and Urfa with a total of 80 flights this morning until 7 a.m.” said Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Ekşi on Tuesday.
Severe weather conditions have made it difficult to deliver aid to the affected regions and conduct rescue operations.
Pointing out that there could be disruptions in transfers to the region due to density of flights, Ekşi stressed flights to the earthquake zone would continue without interruption.
The carrier has also been engaged in the transportation of humanitarian aid, in addition to search and rescue teams in coordination with AFAD.
The company previously announced that it was fixing ticket prices at TL 100 ($5.3) for seats on flights returning to Istanbul from Adana, Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, Elazığ, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, Adıyaman and Malatya. The price cap will last through Feb. 13, the company noted.
Some 80 planes that carried aid to the cities were made accessible to citizens as of Tuesday morning, the company said, urging passengers to book their flights over a mobile app or website to enable easier coordination.
The death toll from the earthquakes rose to 3,432 as of Tuesday noon, said officials, bringing the total, including those killed in Syria, to more than 5,000.
