At least 1,000 passengers miss flights at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport due to data system breakdown

ISTANBUL

At least 1,000 passengers at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport, who were set to travel abroad, were not able to embark early on Sept. 26 due to a breakdown in the Istanbul provincial security directorate’s Polnet data system.  

Long queues occurred across passport control points, causing many passengers to miss their planes, according to security officials. 

Officials said the flight tickets of all those who missed flights would be changed without a fee.
  
The breakdown was reportedly solved at about 12:30 p.m., as operations returned to normal.

A similar data system breakdown occurred on May 19, 2016 at Istanbul’s International Atatürk Airport. 

Long queues formed at the main entrance of the airport early on Sept. 26, as anger erupted among many waiting passengers.

“This is a total disaster. We came here at 6 a.m. and no officials have addressed the issue. We cannot even see any of them around,” one passenger said.
      
PolNet is the computer network and information system of Turkey’s national police force.