A Turkish airport has been forced to temporarily close with flights cancelled and diverted as wildfires continue to rage.
Flights were grounded to and from Adnan Menderes Airport, which serves the coastal city of İzmir, a popular tourist destination, on Sunday (29 June).
The airport departure board shows a number of flights due to leave on Sunday evening have been suspended or cancelled, including several from Sun Express Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, Turkish Airlines and Aerlingus.
Flights appear to be slowly resuming late into the evening.
An airport spokesperson said: “Due to the forest fire in İzmir’s Gaziemir district and adverse weather conditions, including strong winds, İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport was temporarily closed to air traffic as of 16:00 local time.
“Some incoming flights were diverted to alternate airports during the closure. Following the NOTAM [meaning notice to airmen], the runway has reopened and the first flight, PC 1864 to Ercan, has successfully departed at 21:50 local time. Flight operations are gradually returning to normal.”
Flights on the board still show severe delays, with one Sun Express Airlines flight to London Stansted delayed by 21 hours, now set to take off at 7.30pm on Monday. An AerLingus flight to Dublin, originally due to take off at 10.20pm, has been cancelled.
Photos on social media showed clouds of smoke over İzmir as the sky turned orange with flames.
The Mayor of İzmir, Dr. Cemil Tugay, said: “Today is a very tough day for us; we are simultaneously battling numerous fires breaking out all across our beautiful İzmir. In collaboration with relevant institutions, our Fire Department, along with heavy machinery, tankers, and all field personnel, is on high alert.
“Our teams are working with all their strength to combat the fires, which have grown due to the effect of the storm, particularly in Menderes, Seferihisar, and Gaziemir. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the fires that reduce our forests to ashes are caused by human hands.
“A small act of negligence is enough to burn down an entire forest, thousands of creatures living within it, and our homes. Please, let us be extremely careful from now on. Especially in hot weather, let us steer clear of any activities that could cause a fire.”
The flames in Turkey come almost a year after the country battled wildfires in August, after the country recorded its hottest July for 53 years, with temperatures reaching 45.9C in Şırnak in the country’s southeast, according to the Turkish State Meteorological Service.
As Turkey battles its own tinder dry conditions, Europe remains on high alert as the continent faces its first major heatwave of the summer. Temperatures are expected to climb as high as 42C. Greece has already experienced blazes on the Island of Chios, while France has issued severe fire risk warnings.
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