Turkish Airlines continues to mend wounds of earthquake
Turkish carried 238,112 search-and-rescue personnel while evacuating 230,980 citizens with 1,302 evacuation flights
Turkish Airlines, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), continues efforts to ensure supplies following the devastating earthquake centred in Kahramanmaraş and affecting surrounding cities of Kilis, Diyarbakır, Adana, Osmaniye, Gaziantep, Malatya, Şanlıurfa, Adıyaman and Hatay.
Coordinating with all official organisations such as AFAD and the Turkish Red Crescent, the flag carrier ensured all search-and-rescue teams, along with aid materials, were delivered to affected areas as soon as possible by conducting aid flights and evacuating those affected with evacuation flights without any charges during the crisis, says an official release.
"Turkish Airlines carried 238,112 search-and-rescue personnel with 1,324 aid flights while evacuating 230,980 citizens from the earthquake area with 1,302 evacuation flights.
Turkish Airlines carried 15,648 tonnes of aid material, free of charge, to the areas affected by the earthquake - mostly food, medicine, clothing, generators, hygiene kits and tents - with 156 cargo flights. While 6,198 tonnes of cargo were carried on flights conducted from 77 countries, the remaining 9,450 tonnes were from Türkiye.
"Turkish Airlines’ 249 personnel were volunteers in the area, assisting search and rescue operations and delivering humanitarian aid. Members of the Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) team of Turkish Airlines Flight Academy in Aydın also took part in the rescue operations in İskenderun."
Ahmet Bolat, Chairman, Board and Executive Committee, Turkish Airlines
Ahmet Bolat, Chairman, Board and Executive Committee, Turkish Airlines says: “With the responsibility of being the national flag carrier, we are working with all officials including AFAD to mend the wounds caused by the earthquake as the 75,000-strong Turkish Airlines family. Within that framework, we will be building a Turkish Airlines neighbourhood in the region with 1,000 homes for those affected by the earthquake. We will also employ 1000 personnel from 1,000 families affected by the earthquake in Turkish Airlines and its subsidiaries. During these times where we come together as one in the face of natural disaster, Turkish Airlines also donated TL 2 billion ($53 million) while I personally donated my salary of March 2023 for immediate aid efforts. We also wish to extend our gratitude to our friends from abroad for their overwhelming support and aid in response to the crisis along with our missions, embassies, and consulates for their coordination in order to deliver aid material from other countries to the affected region with our cargo flights. Our flag carrier will continue to be with our citizens in the future just like it has been with all of its capabilities.”
Offering free ticketing and reservation since February 7, Turkish is also accepting citizens without reservations depending on the availability of the aircraft, the release added.
