(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Istanbul, June 29 (QNA) - The first departures took off from Istanbul''s Ataturk international airport Wednesday, as the major global transit hub partially resumed operations following a brutal attack killing 36 people and causing carnage.
Planes had already begun landing just before dawn, after the airport, one of the largest in the region, had been totally shut for several hours following the triple suicide bombing the previous evening which was focused on the arrivals terminal.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim confirmed that the flights were back in the airport Wednesday morning after the attack.The Turkish Airlines announced that flights had been be suspended until Wednesday 8 AM (Turkish local time).
The airlines, which had to cancel more than 340 flights, was offering refunds or alternative tickets, but there still was chaos for many travelers, including people who fled the airport attack.
Delays remained widespread after hundreds of flights were cancelled or postponed immediately after the attack, which involved guns and explosives and caused damage to the airport.
The building''s exterior and interior had suffered some damage in the multiple explosions and gunfights between police and the assailants, whose nationality has not yet been confirmed. No group has claimed the attack.
The attack comes as Turkey''s key tourism sector is already being battered in recent months due to terrorist attacks. The number of foreign visitors decreased by 35% in May, the latest in a string of steep monthly declines.Foreign nationals were among the killed and injured, with Turkish citizens making up the largest portion of the victims, officials said.
Three suicide bombers who arrived by taxi struck on Tuesday evening, killing 36 people besides themselves and leaving an estimated 147 injured.Witnesses and local media reports said there were explosions and gunfire at different points in the international area of the airport, including inside the building.
ISIS was the primary suspect, said Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, who visited the airport overnight and announced it open to inbound and outbound flights.Tuesday''s attack was the worst in Istanbul in more than a decade. (QNA)