Passenger flights from Hatay Airport, which suspended operations following severe damage to the runway because of the earthquakes that struck the southeastern region last week, resumed Monday.
Türkiye's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) and Pegasus Airlines both announced they had resumed flights, with each airline already completing early morning flights to Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gökçen Airport, respectively.
"Our flights from Hatay Airport have resumed," Yahya Ustun, Turkish Airlines' senior vice president for media relations, said on Twitter.
The flight bookings made between Feb. 13-19 will require advance reservation to facilitate the evacuation process, Ustun added. Passengers without reservations will be accepted if there are vacant seats, he noted.
Pegasus Airlines flight PC 4031 took off from Hatay Airport, which was repaired after the Kahramanmaraş-based earthquakes, and landed at Sabiha Gökçen Airport with 60 passengers onboard.
The Pegasus plane carrying some earthquake victims who wanted to go to Istanbul and the search and rescue personnel who changed duties landed at Sabiha Gökçen Airport at 3:45 a.m. local time.
After the airport repairs, THY flight number TK 6946 departed from Hatay Airport and also landed at Istanbul Airport.
Flight number TK 6946 departed from Hatay Airport with 91 passengers and landed at Istanbul Airport at 2:04 a.m. local time with earthquake victims and search and rescue personnel onboard.
At the same time, evacuation of the disaster victims from the whole region affected by massive earthquakes continues through the flights organized by THY.
A statement made by the THY Press Office on Monday said a plan is in place to evacuate 19,878 more disaster victims from the earthquake area with 109 evacuation flights during the day while a search and rescue team of 19,770 people is planned to be transported to the region with 118 flights.
The statement also noted that 173,564 people, part of the rescue, search and aid teams, have been transported to the disaster area with 997 flights made by THY since the day of the disaster, and 165,073 people were evacuated from the region via 1,002 flights.
"From the moment of the disaster, we have delivered 5,955 tons of aid materials to the disaster area with 94 cargo flights. Some 2,539 tons of aid cargo from abroad has been transported to Türkiye. As of today, six of our cargo flights, two of which are international, have been carried out, while six more domestic cargo flights are planned during the day," the THY statement read.
