There was still no announcement from the pilot. It gave me a brief scare, thinking of MH370. A few rows down my seat, suddenly, I saw a passenger pressing the button calling the stewardess. He repeated the button pressing a few times, before I saw a stewardess walking towards him. After exchanging a few words, I saw stewardess walking towards the front cabin.
Then, we heard the announcement in Turkish language from the pilot, followed by a shorter message in English language. Our plane has been diverted to Samsun airport due to snowstorm in Istanbul. Samsun airport is about 1 hour flight away from Istanbul.
We landed at Samsun airport safely. The weather was fine, no snow, no rain, and temperature was about 20 deg C. Upon arrival, we were asked to wait in the plane for about 1 hour, before we were asked to bring our hand luggages down the plane. There was no announcement on what will happen after we left the plane. We presumed we will be informed.
Problem 1 : Visa payment
While queueing up the passport control line, I saw a few passengers having problems with visa payment. They were transitting and did not expect to pay visa. But now they have to fork out their own money to pay for the visa, so as to enter Turkey. They are hoping Turkish Airlines will compensate them on that, but it has not been the case.
Problem 2 : No announcement
Upon picking up our luggages, I was hoping there is announcement on what we should do next. There wasn't. A few Turkish Airlines officer are seen to entertain customer individually. So, not knowing what to do, I approached him, telling him that I have missed my connecting flight. He led me to Turkish Airlines counter down the hall. At the counter, the officer said that we will be brought to the hotel, and our expenses will be covered by the airlines. They could have made these process easier by making announcement, asking all the passenger to board the bus outside the arrival hall, to travel to the hotel they have arranged. It was not clear.
A bus conductor came and brought us to the bus, where we saw many passengers were already boarding the bus, while some were still waiting for empty buses to come.
There were a few buses waiting there, and nobody told us which bus to board. So, we jump on the next available bus, assuming that all the buses are the same. It was 3am in the morning, there wouldn't be other buses coming to fetch people at this wee hours in the morning, would they ? So, we acted based on our assumption since there was no Turkish Airlines officer to be seen for a long time until we are already in the bus. For those waiting for more information, they are left waiting on the road for later buses to arrive.
After 45 minutes drive, we arrive at the Samsun city centre, and the hotel. It was a 3 star hotel - Amisos. The hotel reception was very efficient. He made a copy of our passport, write down our room number and immediately pass us the room key. So the queue was not very long, and we could unwind in our room.
Problem 3 : Snowstorm continues in Istanbul and we were not given information in the hotel
After a good night sleep and morning breakfast, we thought that the Airlines would contact us. It was a quiet day. Nobody contacted us. So, I googled for Istanbul weather and learnt that snowstorm continued on the 7th and 8th Jan, and all flights are cancelled. Then, there were a few hours of cloudy, no snow weather on 8th Jan which gave me some hope. I also saw some flights taking off from Ataturk Airport webpage below :
Ataturk Istanbul Airport Flight Info
Then, I visited Turkish Airlines facebook page. There were so many people who similar fate as me. Some were far worst, below are the list of incidents :
1. They are left waiting for long hours in airport without food or drinks. After a while, I saw some passenger thanked for the sandwich.
2. They find their own hotel, pay for their hotel, food, and taxi to airport.
3. They call the airlines numbers given, noone answer the phone.
4. All emails sent are ignored.
5. Facebook messages were replied with cut and paste apologetic messages. Though some got private messages replied.
6. Public post on Turkish Airlines facebook messages were hiden.
7. People rebooked their flight but failed to get e-ticket, due to system down or overloaded.
8. People rebooked their flights many times, but failed.
9. For my case, I received an email and sms asking me to cancel for full refund or rebook my flight online or call the general line. When I tried to rebook it online, I was not allowed too. If that's case, why send me the email or sms, asking me to rebook ? The messages are very confusing and contradictory.
10. Istanbul airport is packed with people with super long queue, trying to reach the counter to rebook ticket, ask for flight info, ask for hotel accomodation, etc.
11. If customers take connecting flights from different airlines, they have to rebook those flights separately. And if the rebooked flights are cancelled, they have to rebook all the flights again, which can incur more and more cost.
12. Some managed to checked in at airport, then the flights were cancelled. And many have problem retrieving their checked-in luggages. After a long wait, they have to retire to hotel with no luggages and that lasted for a few days. They have no extra clothes to wear at the hotel. A passenger wore the same shirt for 4 days!
13. Then, some got lucky, and managed to fly, either to their intended destination, or a town nearby.
The subsequent problem was, their luggages did not arrive. The luggage handling system was in a mess. Probably the workers are overworked or the system was down and lack of proper tracking. A passenger reported that in Berlin, 100 passengers arrived with 300 baggages !
14. Some rerouted their destination, and managed to fly and arrived at a town not too far away, and took a train home after paying hotel, taxi and train at their own cost.
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| Turkish Airlines Facebook Customers' Cry |
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| Turkish Airlines Flight Cancellation |
Turkish Airlines Flight Cancellation Link
It just showed that Turkish Airlines and Ataturk Airport are not ready to handle the emergency situation.
With 400 flights cancelled a day, starting from 7th - 9th Jan, that would be 3 days. So, I presume 1200 flights were cancelled. Assuming there are an average of 200 passengers per flight, that would be 240,000 passengers with flight cancellation and rebooking/refund problems.
The amount of work peaked in such short time. The Airport staff, Airlines staff are overloaded, The airline system is also overloaded with sudden increase in work, hence going down.
To make the matter worst, the weather in Istanbul is not following the forecast. Rebooked flights are cancelled and requires rebooking. And the circle of problems go on and on.
The runway for aeroplane have been cleared up by thousands of workers and lots of trucks, but only limited runways are available. And then, the snowstorm started again.
It is madness !
Snow in Istanbul :
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