British Airways is to resume service to Istanbul Ataturk airport after cancelling all flights yesterday in the wake of the terrorist attack which killed 42 people and injured 239.
Cruise lines are keeping a close watch on the situation and Celebrity Cruises yesterday cancelled calls into the Turkish city.
BA will operate a reduced schedule today and urged passengers due to fly to or from Istanbul to check their flight status before travelling to the airport.
“We are keeping the situation regarding other scheduled flights to/from Istanbul under regular review and are awaiting more information from the authorities in Turkey,” the airline said.
“We recognise that you may not wish to travel as a result of the incident and we have therefore introduced a more flexible rebooking policy so that you can travel on alternative dates, or to an alternative destination.
“If you are due to fly on a British Airways operated flight to or from Istanbul up to and including Sunday 3 July, you can rebook to a later date or use the money you have spent towards an alternative destination.”
Celebrity Cruises said: “After reviewing all of the available information and discussions with our Global Security team in Miami, we have decided to cancel all of Celebrity Cruises’ upcoming turns in Istanbul, Turkey, and replace them with Athens (Piraeus), Greece.
“This decision was made with the safety of our guests and crew at the forefront of our minds and in an abundance of caution.
“We realise this may have an impact on your travel plans and our team is working now on available alternative arrangements from this new port of embark and debarkation.
“We sincerely apologise for the impact on your cruise and will revert throughout the day with more details. We understand how important your vacation is and we did not take this decision lightly.”
The airport partially re-opened the day after three armed attackers arrived in a taxi and began firing at the terminal entrance late on Tuesday. They then blew themselves up after police fired back.
No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the assault on Ataturk airport, the sixth major attack this year targeting either Istanbul or Turkey’s capital, Ankara.