Hundreds of flights have been cancelled today due to the heavy snowfall affecting Istanbul Airport, the most important in the Turkish metropolis, and also Sabiha Gökçen (on the Asian side of the city), caused by a cold front from Siberia that is sweeping across Turkey from east to west and is expected to last until the weekend.
Turkish media sources reported that at least 150 flights were cancelled in the last few hours at Istanbul Airport alone because of the heavy snow, which is falling especially in the districts to the north of the European part of Istanbul, such as Arnavutköy, where the city’s main airport is located.
Despite the heavy snowfall, airport teams are working hard to ensure that the facilities are operating as normally as possible and that flights are taking off and landing without major complications, keeping the runways clear of snow and using anti-freeze to keep the planes, especially the wings, free of ice.
The weather forecast indicates that the snowfall in Istanbul will continue until at least Saturday or Sunday, with maximum temperatures of around 3 ºC and minimum temperatures below 0 ºC. Companies such as Turkish Airlines have confirmed the cancellation of around 200 flights between today and Friday, so passengers planning to fly are advised to check the status of their flight on this web site.
The situation at Istanbul Airport will continue to be complicated over the next few days and 20% of flights are expected to be cancelled on Thursday and Friday due to the snow. At the city’s Asian airport, Sabiha Gökçen, the situation is more favourable but the cancellation of 10% of flights for tomorrow and 15% for Friday has been announced, although the situation could change depending on how the cold spell develops. Private Turkish airline Pegasus, based at Sabiha Gökçen, has meanwhile published this list of cancelled flights for 20, 21 and 22 February.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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