Airlines

Turkish Airlines Steps Up Earthquake Relief Efforts

Turkish Airlines is continuing its efforts to help those affected by the devastating earthquake centered in Kahramanmaraş and the surrounding cities of Kilis, Diyarbakır, Adana, Osmaniye, Gaziantep, Malatya, Şanlıurfa, Adıyaman and Hatay.

Coordinating with official organizations such as AFAD (Ministry of Interior Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency) and the Turkish Red Crescent, the flag carrier ensured all search and rescue teams and aid materials were delivered to impacted communities and is continuing to evacuate those affected with free evacuation flights during the crisis.

Turkish Airlines carried 238,112 search and rescue personnel on 1,324 aid flights, while evacuating 230,980 citizens from the earthquake area on 1,302 evacuation flights. Continuing its operations in coordination with AFAD and Türkiye missions, embassies, and consulates around the world, Turkish Airlines delivered 15,648 tons of aid material free of charge to areas impacted by the earthquake including food, medicine, clothing, generators, hygiene kits, tents. 6,198 tons of the cargo were carried with flights conducted from 77 countries, while the remaining 9,450 tons were from Türkiye.

Turkish Airlines’ 249 personnel were volunteers in the area, assisting with search and rescue operations and delivering humanitarian aid. Members of the Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) team from Turkish Airlines Flight Academy in Aydın also participated n the rescue operations in İskenderun.

Thousands of personnel from Turkish Technic and other subsidiaries contributed to the aid and rescue operations. Groups with first aid and immediate treatment experience went to earthquake areas to participate in the search and rescue efforts. Groups with psychologists offered psychosocial support for the citizens affected by the earthquake.

Organizing an aid campaign to transfer to AFAD, Turkish Technic collected approximately 2.3 million TL in the first 5 hours after the earthquake. Waiving the vaccination card requirement within this process, Turkish Airlines also carried the pets of the citizens from earthquake affected areas without any charge.

The flag carrier also sent carrying cases to its stations so that pets can be easily boarded on the aircraft. Turkish Airlines has offered free ticketing and reservations since Feb. 7 and is also accepting citizens without reservations depending on the aircraft. airline passengers are able to change or refund their domestic flights or international flights to/from earthquake affected areas between Feb. 6 through March, as long as they were first arranged before Feb. 9, 2023.