A number of planes experienced slow-downs in landing at the Istanbul Airport and some more were diverted to other airports due to unfavorable weather conditions, Airport Haber news portal reported on Friday.
Numerous flights including internationals destined for Istanbul were diverted to Tekirdag Corlu Airport in Tekirdag, which is situated in the European part of Turkey at the northern shore of the Sea of Marmara.
Many other planes on Friday were unable to land on time and had to fly in a holding pattern to wait for their turn to land.
Some of the passengers, who reacted to the delayed landings on social media, criticized the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for insisting on the Istanbul Airport mega project despite warnings against its controversial location.
The airport is located on a wetland 30km north of the Black Sea, where high winds are a problem, according to the critics who warned the Turkish government during the construction of the project.
According to tweets on the issue passengers on a Berlin-Istanbul flight that was diverted to Tekirdag were kept waiting there for seven hours, unable to leave the plane or get food.
The distance between Tekirdag’s Corlu district and Istanbul is a two-hour drive.
Cevahir Efe Akcelik, Istanbul provincial coordination committee secretary of the Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects Chambers (TMMOB), said in a tweet that the chamber previously warned the governing AKP about the issue.
“We heard news about a number of planes being unable to land in the Istanbul Airport due to unfavorable weather conditions and that they had to be diverted to Corlu. We don’t like to say ‘we told you so,’ but we told you so, back in 2014,” Akcelik emphasized.
The General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI) released a written statement on the issue and indicated that although they experienced a setback at the Istanbul Airport on Friday, the number of the diverted flights were only eight.
DHMI added that the main reason for the diverts is the cumulonimbus cloud, a dense, towering vertical cloud, that is called “killer cloud” by pilots.
They said this was done to avoid airplane accidents in the approach or take-off area.
The construction of the airport, which is championed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had led to 55 workers’ deaths since 2015, according to data delivered by Istanbul Grand Airport (IGA) and the DHMI.
The mega project, the likes of which have been finished at an enormous cost to the taxpayer, has long frustrated Istanbulites who fear that its high costs are contributing to bankrupt Turkey, which is already on the verge of financial collapse.
Millions choose Sabiha airport over inconvenient new Istanbul airport
The post Istanbul Airport mega project in the spotlight again as heavy winds cause slow-downs in landing appeared first on IPA NEWS.
from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2019/05/18/istanbul-airport-mega-project-in-the-spotlight-again-as-heavy-winds-cause-slow-downs-in-landing/
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