Due to heavy snowfall on February 19-21 in Istanbul, Turkey, hundreds of flights from Uzbekistan and other countries are being canceled at Istanbul's international airport and Sabiha Gökçen airport. This was reported by the "Anadolu Agency" based on information from the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.
It is noted that at Istanbul international airport, the flights are planned to be reduced by up to 15 percent on February 19 and by up to 20 percent on February 21.
“Considering Turkish Airlines operates an average of 1000 flights a day, approximately 150 flights are expected to be canceled on February 19, and close to 200 flights on February 21. These numbers will be clarified depending on the constantly changing meteorological conditions,” the statement says.
As for Sabiha Gökçen airport, it was decided that no flights would be canceled on February 19. However, as a precautionary measure, 10 percent of the flights are planned to be canceled today, on February 20. In this context, Pegasus airline will cancel 46 flights, and Ajet will cancel 22 flights.
“Flights for February 21, Friday, have also been analyzed, and close to 15 percent of flights will be canceled that day. In this context, Pegasus decided to cancel 68 flights, and Ajet will cancel 34 flights,” the report says.
Furthermore, both airports have revised the work schedules of the flight crews, changes have been made for crews with heavy work schedules. The number of standby crews has been increased, and necessary measures are being implemented by the airlines.
Due to these adverse weather conditions, Uzbekistan Airways is forced to cancel HY281/282 flights on the Tashkent – Istanbul – Tashkent route on February 20, 21, 22.
The transportation of passengers of canceled flights is planned through the daytime HY271/272 and HY273/274 flights on the above mentioned dates.
“Considering the difficult weather conditions and expected precipitation, we ask passengers to arrive for check-in earlier. The decision was made based on the mandatory and advisory requirements of the Meteorological Aviation Coordination Committee regarding the crisis situation at Istanbul International Airport on February 18 of this year,” the report states.
