CEO of Istanbul Airport shares reasons why airport was closed for a whole day

Istanbul Airport obviously displayed a poor performance due to snow last week and failed to provide uninterrupted service to thousands of passengers waiting to fly. The airport was closed for a whole day with 1500 passengers on 10 planes waiting on the runway for eight hours. 20 thousand passengers were stranded at the airport because the roads were closed. Some lay on the floor, on luggage straps, on cartons. In the meantime, Algerian passengers demonstrated protests. On top of all, the roof of the cargo collapsed.

Kadri SAMSUNLU, CEO of IGA which manages Istanbul Airport gave an interview to prominent journalist Ismail SAYMAZ answering important questions on minds of thousands. Some critical parts of the interview in which the CEO provided noteworthy content provide an idea as to why the unpleasant experience was lived through on said occasion.

How did a snowstorm paralyze Istanbul Airport?

CEO: Because it was a blizzard. The fact that the snow falls with a strong wind, your visibility decreases to zero. That’s what happened on the occasion. By 13 o’clock that day, we had realized 380 flights and sent 46 thousand passengers. Was it snowing? It was. After 13 o’clock, the intensity of snow increased. The figures from Meteorology said 15-20 cm snow would fall in 12 hours.

What’s happened? It snowed much more than thought. 10 de-icing spots (the process of spraying alcohol to remove ice and snow from airplanes) where the planes stop, is at the bottom of the runway. The snow came down so fast that we couldn’t get the planes out. For seven hours the snow never stopped. By the end of seven hours, 41 centimeters of snow had fallen.

Why couldn’t you clean it up?

CEO: There was no visibility in which case the operation stopped. When it stopped, the snow rose and the field closed itself. You don’t see where you are. You’re moving in white smoke.

How long did it stay like that?

CEO: It took a day. It closed on Monday at 13-13.30. The first plane was ready at 12:30 the next day.

Source: halktv.com.tr/gundem/istanbul-havalimaninin-ceosu-evet-metronun-olmamasi-bir-eksiklik-662373h