Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Uraloğlu reminded that the damages occurred at Hatay Airport as a result of the earthquake centered in Kahramanmaraş, which rendered the runway unusable, have been repaired and the airport has started to operate at full capacity as of March 29.
Minister Uraloğlu emphasized that the repairs at Hatay Airport were carried out promptly and all necessary repairs were made to open the airport to passenger traffic, highlighting that a renewal work on a high and impermeable fill was conducted to prevent damage to the runway in case of another earthquake.
“As of March 29, arrival flights for passengers have been opened.”
Following the earthquake, the temporary repairs were made on 2,082 meters of the 3,000-meter-long runway damaged by the earthquake, enabling flights for humanitarian aid and passenger planes only on outbound flights, Minister Uraloğlu recalled, “We opened our runway for arrival and departure flights on March 29 after completing the improvement works on its pavement and covering with the ground. Until these improvement works were completed, the direct approach procedure for landing on 22 runway heads was canceled, and the circular approach procedure was applied.”
“2,247 departing passengers and 2,112 arriving passengers were served on 16 flights.”
Minister Uraloğlu stated that only empty landings and full take-offs were allowed at Hatay Airport after the earthquake, and they met the necessary criteria for full landings and full take-offs after the ground reinforcements and runway repairs, saying, “We made the Hatay Airport ready for flights by the end of March thanks to the dedicated work of our teams following the damage caused by the earthquake. After the ground improvements we made, we started flights on March 29, 2024, with full landings and full take-offs.
Since March 29, a total of 4,349 passengers, including 2,237 departing passengers and 2,112 arriving passengers, have traveled from our airport on 16 flights. Despite the planning of a total of 30 scheduled flights, 3 flights per day, since we started flights, some flights have been canceled by the airlines due to adverse weather conditions.”
