Twenty-four hours after all flights were suspended at Istanbul Airport amid heavy snowfall, a gradual restart of flights kicked off late Tuesday. IGA, the company that operates the busiest airport in Europe, announced in a statement on Wednesday that flight operations had returned to normal and 681 "air traffic movements" were planned at the airport on Wednesday. IGA said two runways were open, and work was underway to reopen the third runway for flights.
Snowstorms on Monday led to cancellations of flights, while incoming international and domestic flights were diverted to other airports. Many passengers were stranded at the airport, while some had checked in to nearby hotels. IGA said no passengers were waiting at the airport as of Wednesday. It also announced that shuttle services to and from the airport were regularly operating in the city, where people have been trapped on snowed-in roads since Monday. It urged passengers to check their flight status before going to the airport.
Bilal Ekşi, CEO of the country's flagship carrier Turkish Airlines (THY), tweeted on Wednesday that the airline had planned 131 flights to and from the airport between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. local time for the day but advised the passengers to check the updates on flights. Though snowfall stopped Wednesday, the temperatures remain low, and meteorology experts warn about potential precipitation until Thursday.
Ilker Aycı, the head of Turkish Airlines (THY) governing board, had announced on Tuesday that crews would clear a parking area enough to accommodate 60 airplanes until Wednesday.
The suspension of flights on Monday marked the gleaming glass-and-steel structure’s first shutdown since it replaced Istanbul’s old Atatürk Airport as the new hub for Turkish Airlines in 2019.
