Turkish Airlines grounded planes from two Istanbul airports for three hours on Wednesday. According to Flightradar24, the disruptions affected over a hundred flights. The problems – as reported – were caused by a failure of IT systems.
The Turkish carrier announced on Wednesday that the booking and ticket sales processes were interrupted due to maintenance works. Turkish Airlines’ vice president for media relations, Yahya Ustun, clarified that the problems were related to the failure of the IT infrastructure.
Due to this, flights were canceled – between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. local time – from Istanbul Airport and Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport, approximately 20 kilometers away from Istanbul.
The industry website Flightradar24 reported that the disruptions would affect 92 flights from Istanbul and 14 flights from Sabiha Gokcen airport. According to information provided by the airport of the largest Turkish city, flights to London, Tel Aviv, Chisinau, Bari, Mumbai, Cairo, Athens, Tehran, Beirut and Sarajevo have been canceled.
The airline said it would provide accommodation, refund money and compensate passengers for any losses caused by canceled flights, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Istanbul Airport, in turn, announced that it had activated free Internet access for passengers to ensure efficient communication.
After 9 p.m. (11 p.m. in Istanbul), Yahya Ustun announced that “a failure” in IT systems had been identified and repaired. Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Eksi thanked passengers for their understanding.
Istanbul airport in an archive photoAncapital/Shutterstock
Main photo source: Ancapital/Shutterstock