UPD dated 26.01.22
Today, all passengers who are stuck at Istanbul Airport and Burgas due to bad weather in Turkey will arrive at their destinations. Flight PQ491A Kyiv — Istanbul has already arrived in Istanbul from Burgas, flight PQ492A Istanbul — Kyiv departed to Kyiv at 17.00 Istanbul time.
Due to heavy snowfall on 24 January, Istanbul Airport canceled all flights, traffic was also paralyzed. Thousands of passengers, including Ukrainians, and employees of airports, airport services and airlines have become hostages of bad weather. In the conditions of the virtual collapse of the infrastructure, we did everything in our power so that our passengers could wait out the bad weather more comfortably.
Unfortunately, the passengers had to stay at the airport for more than a day, because it was impossible to organize a transfer to hotels, the routes were closed due to bad weather and there was no chance to pass safely. During this period, the supply of food and water to the airport was also difficult. However, we managed to arrange delivery and provide passengers with meals a total of 5 times during the waiting time at the airport. As soon as the roads were cleared and traffic resumed, we took our passengers to the hotels.
Passengers flying to Istanbul and making an unscheduled landing in Burgas were immediately settled in hotels, except for those who did not have the documents necessary to cross the Bulgarian border and could not leave the airport transit zone. Our passengers who remained at the airport received meals 6 times.
In addition to providing meals, our contact center specialists and community managers responding to messages and comments on the airline's pages in social networks were constantly in touch with passengers. During these almost two days of a flight delay, managers processed about 500 requests from passengers and their relatives. We also have constantly sent up-to-date information in SMS messages.
We understand that our passengers had a hard time and waiting for a flight at the airport seemed quite stressful. We are sincerely sorry about that, and for our part, the SkyUp team did everything possible in the face of the collapse to ease the waiting time at airports.
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On 24 January, flight PQ491 Kyiv — Istanbul landed at the alternate airport in Burgas due to severe bad weather at Istanbul Airport. Flight PQ492 Istanbul — Kyiv will depart as soon as the weather conditions normalize and the departure time is agreed with the airport.
Due to heavy snowfall, Istanbul Airport has suspended operations. Previously, the airport twice provided information about its readiness to resume work, but the weather conditions do not yet allow this and the airport remains closed.
The airline settled passengers (114 people) flying from Kyiv to Istanbul, and the crew of the flight, in hotels in Burgas. Another 26 people are forced to stay waiting for a flight at the airport, as the border service did not let them out of the airport due to the fact that they have ordinary passports without biometrics, which means that they had to additionally show visas to enter the city. All passengers, both in hotels and at the airport, are provided with meals.
Passengers who were supposed to fly from Istanbul to Kyiv are forced to wait for their flight at the airport. Unfortunately, due to bad weather, the roads are closed and it is not possible to arrange a transfer to the hotels. Passengers are provided with food and water in the waiting terminal. Due to difficult road conditions, the delivery of water and food to the airport is delayed. Together with our partners, we are doing everything we can to ensure comfortable waiting conditions under the circumstances.
We are ready to fly as soon as Istanbul Airport returns to normal operation. The schedule of these two flights (from Burgas to Istanbul and from Istanbul to Kyiv) depends on when the airport grants permission to operate.
The airline is in touch with passengers and as soon as new information appears, we transmit it via SMS. Passengers can also contact Customer Support with questions at 38 (044) 330 00 13 or 38 (044) 339 90 03 or send private messages on our pages on social networks — SkyUp Airlines Facebook page and skyup.aero Instagram account.