Turkish authorities have once again postponed the full transfer of flights from Istanbul's existing main airport, Ataturk, to the newly built new airport. Instead of the previously planned March 1-3, the transfer is now scheduled for April 5-7, according to a Travel.ru correspondent.
The uncertainty surrounding flight transfers has already thrown dozens of airlines flying to Istanbul into disarray. Previous plans called for all foreign carriers' flights to Ataturk Airport on March 1-2 to be cancelled to accommodate the transition, with flights to the new airport being resumed no earlier than March 3. A month ago, all foreign carriers followed suit—all flights were cancelled, and for a long time, tickets to Istanbul for March 1-2 were only available from Turkish carriers. It's possible that after this latest shift in plans, many foreign carriers will resume flights to Istanbul on March 1-2.
However, Aeroflot and Rossiya Airlines are still not selling tickets to Istanbul for March 1-2. Pobeda, as usual, has taken a more original approach: both of its Istanbul flights starting March 1 are scheduled to Sabiha Gökçen Airport on the Asian side of Istanbul (until February 28, it operates one flight per day to Atürk and Sabiha Gökçen). Pobeda is therefore no longer concerned about the airport transfer situation.
According to newly published plans, all foreign airlines (except those flying to Sabiha Gökçen) will now be forced to cancel flights to Istanbul on April 5-6. This includes Aeroflot and Rossiya Airlines. This is because the old and new airports have overlapping routes, making it impossible for both to operate fully simultaneously. However, Turkish airlines based at Ataturk will be able to maintain some flights on April 5-6, and Turkish Airlines' long-haul flights will be minimally affected.
According to the new plans, from 3:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Friday, April 5, flights to the old Ataturk Airport will be limited to Turkish carriers (Turkish Airlines, Atlas Global, Onur Air). From 7:00 PM on April 5 until 3:00 AM on Saturday, April 6, only Turkish Airlines flights will be permitted, allowing most long-haul flights to operate. After that, Ataturk will be completely closed to commercial flights.
Istanbul's new airport will not operate any passenger flights on April 5 (until April 4, it handled a couple dozen Turkish Airlines flights daily, including flights to Moscow five times a week). Starting at 2:00 PM on Saturday, April 6, it will resume operations—initially, only Turkish Airlines. Onur Air and Atlas Global will join at 7:00 PM, and all foreign airlines will join at midnight. In addition, both airports will be open on March 5-6 to ferry Turkish airlines' unmanned aircraft from the old airport to the new one. This is, of course, assuming plans remain in place.
A similar plan had previously been developed for the aborted March 1-3 schedule. Interestingly, however, none of the Turkish airlines had seriously reduced their March 1-2 schedules in advance. Ultimately, they were right—the schedule was postponed again.
The current postponement marks the third such delay: the new airport was initially scheduled to open fully on October 29, then on January 1, and then on March 3. However, many unfinished business remained by each of these deadlines. Detailed photo reports from the new airport in October and December are available on Travel.ru.
Passengers planning flights to or via Istanbul in early April (except for those traveling to Sabiha Gökçen Airport) should regularly check the status of their flights. It is also advisable to consider alternative travel options. Passengers whose flights to or from Istanbul on March 1-2 were previously canceled should monitor their possible reinstatement and, if necessary, request rebookings from the carrier.
Source: travel.ru
