Heavy snowfall disrupts Istanbul air traffic

By Izzet Taskiran

ISTANBUL (AA) - Hundreds of flights were grounded in Istanbul on Thursday while life in more than a dozen other Turkish cities was disrupted due to heavy snowfall.

Turkish Airlines said 338 flights to and from Istanbul’s Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen airports had been grounded.

Flights scheduled for Jan. 26 and 27 are affected, the airliner said. Passengers were advised to follow updates on the company’s official website (www.turkishairlines.com) or to contact its call center on +90 444 0849 before travelling to airports.

As the heavy snowfall is expected to continue until late Saturday, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality deployed 7,000 personnel and almost 1,350 vehicles to work on keeping the roads clear.

Several ferry services between Istanbul and the northwestern city of Bursa were closed due to high winds, the Bursa Sea Bus Authority announced on Thursday.

According to other local municipalities, roads were closed to almost 1,770 neighborhoods and villages in the east Anatolian provinces of Erzurum, Erzincan, Agri, Kars, Malatya, Elazig, Adyaman, Bingol, Van, Bitlis, Mus Hakkari and Tunceli.

Turkey’s Meteorological Office predicted snowfall would continue until the weekend and cover almost all regions of the country.

It said snowfall in the eastern province of Erzurum had reached 66 centimeters.

The central and western Turkish provinces of Bolu, Kocaeli and Bursa were also hit by heavy snowfall and high winds.