Turkey: More Than 400 Flights Cancelled Due to Snowfall

Turkish Airlines cancelled 407 flights due to snowfall in Istanbul, a report revealed on Saturday, citing Anadolu Agency.

Heavy snowfall has been covering Istanbul since Monday. Hence, the movement of ships through the Bosphorus was suspended due to poor visibility. In addition, classes at schools and universities were also canceled.

Turkish authorities in Istanbul ordered military helicopters to shuttle the sick to hospital, as the country's largest city was blanketed in unusually heavy snow that brought transport to a nearly complete standstill.

In the same vein, the government shut down shopping centers, urging citizens to stay home amid warnings of more freezing weather in the coming days.

“The main issue is that our citizens do not go outside as much as they can in these stormy conditions,” said Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. “We have areas where the snow has reached 80 centimetres (2.6 feet), and in most of the city the snow range has been 30-50 centimetres (1-1.5 feet).”