Istanbul airport, which was inaugurated less than three years ago to replace Istanbul-Atatürk airport, had to suspend operations due to the heavy snowfall that hit the country over the weekend.
This terminal, Europe’s busiest airport in the past year, also had suspended all inbound and outbound flights as a result of the historic snowfall that has hit Turkey’s largest city.
The accumulated weight of snow even caused the roof of a Turkish cargo terminal to collapse. No injuries have been reported at the time of publication.
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According to a press release issued just hours ago, the airport stated that «due to adverse conditions all flights have been temporarily suspended for safety reasons». The suspension will be in effect «at least until 18:00 local time» (1500 UTC). This is the first time the airport has had to suspend operations due to bad weather since its opening in April 2019.
According to airport information, eleven aircraft, with passengers on board, would be in de-icing position. For safety reasons, the terminal operator does not allow them to disembark, nor can ground personnel come to assist them.
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The first snowfall of the winter brought a festive atmosphere to Istanbul’s town squares, where children built snowmen and tourists were seen taking colorful pictures. As the hours passed, however, the heavy precipitation turned out to be a real problem for the 16 million inhabitants of Turkey’s largest city, which ended up completely paralyzed.
According to the Turkish government, about 4,600 people were stranded throughout the country. In total, 6,750 people were evacuated to temporary accommodation.
The airport, which opened in 2019 to replace the former Turkish Airlines hub – which continues to operate as a general aviation and cargo terminal – is designed to move up to 150 million passengers annually. The complex, located on the Black Sea coast about 40 kilometers northwest of downtown Istanbul, saw around 37 million passengers through its gates last year.
