Europe's busiest airport shut as rare snow wraps Mediterranean region - see pics and videos
Heavy snowfall and blizzard brought operations at Istanbul airport - Europe's busiest - to a standstill.
Here are some striking images of aircraft and tarmac covered in a thick blanket of snow
Turkey airport
Operations at Europe's busiest airport - Istanbul Airport - were brought to a standstill on Monday (January 24) due to heavy snowfall, local media reported and also videos/photos circulated on social media forums showed.
Heavy snowfall has hit parts of Turkey and Greece, disrupting flights and causing travel chaos.
#Turkey:
— AceJace™ 🇺🇦 (@AceJaceu) January 24, 2022
The Istanbul Airport has suspended all flights on further notice due to adverse weather conditions that is preventing the airport to run normally.#turkishairlines #THY #IST #Istanbul
pic.twitter.com/OlMtdUDRXZ
(Photograph:Twitter)
Turkey airport
Footage obtained by Turkish politician Baris Yarkadas showed stranded aircraft on tarmac and airport crews pushing a passenger bus stuck in the snow.
Canım Atatürk Havalimanı’nı kapatıp halkı İstanbul Havalimanı’na mahkum ettiler. Bu görüntüyü saat 11.45’ten beri TK 1985 sefer sayılı uçakta mahsur kalan ve İngiltere’ye uçmaya çalışan bir arkadaşım yolladı. Saatlerdir uçaktalar! Son durum bu… Memnun musunuz eserinizden? #THY pic.twitter.com/vCqEf7FPlw
— Barış Yarkadaş (@barisyarkadas) January 24, 2022
(Photograph:Twitter)
Turkey airport
Turkish Airlines on Monday (January 24) said it had cancelled all flights from Istanbul Airport as the airport closed operations.
🔴 Latest pictures are receiving from #Istanbul Airport, Flights Suspended due to intense #SnowStorm2022 in #Turkey 🇹🇷 #PakWeather pic.twitter.com/YjTOkL24Yg
— PakWeather.com (@Pak_Weather) January 25, 2022
(Photograph:Twitter)
Turkey airport
Istanbul Airport authority, in a tweet, said that the teams are carrying out cleaning works on the apron, runway and taxiway to restart flight operations. Work continues at full speed against adverse weather conditions and heavy snowfall.
✈️ heavy snowfall in Istanbul Airport/ Turkey🇹🇷#istanbulhavalimani pic.twitter.com/YywSqlyT6q
— jeo gaste (@jeogaste) January 24, 2022
(Photograph:Twitter)
;Turkey airport
Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Authority (AFAD) said that more than 4,600 people were stranded across the country. They also said that emergency teams delivered food and drinks to those stranded.
Turkey:
— Foxtrot Juliet Bravo Gettr 🇺🇸⚖️🌎 (@RodWagner) January 24, 2022
Istanbul Airport air traffic is disabled due to the weather pic.twitter.com/TGzQnSvdMO
(Photograph:Twitter)
Turkey airport
As per a report by Hurriyet Daily, the snowfall began late last week and picked up in recent days in the city of 16 million people.
Footage from the airport, among the world's largest, showed runways covered in a thick blanket of snow with aircraft and vehicles barely visible.
(Photograph:Twitter)
Turkey airport
Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya took the rare step of banning private cars until 1000 GMT (1pm local) as emergency teams cleaned up streets, while many public workers were granted administrative leave to keep commutes to a minimum.
(Photograph:Reuters)
Turkey airport
Across the country, some 4,600 people were left stranded on roads and elsewhere, and thousands had been placed in temporary housing, the Disaster and Emergency Authority said.