We landed at Batman Airport in approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes with the Anadolu Jet plane that took off from Ankara Esenboğa Airport.
***
What did I experience during this flight? Let me tell you if I tell it in a way that looks like a nightmare.
The plane, which I likened to minibuses going on village roads, managed to frighten me both with its passengers and with its physical conditions.
I had never come to Şanlıurfa before and went no further.. So Batman was going to be a great experience for me.. Especially because of the stories told about places such as Van, Tatvan, Batman, Hasankeyf and what I watched and listened to in the past, my desire to see the region increased many times. they moved at the same time. It was clear from the announcements that we are an impatient nation.. While it was insistently said that the belts should not be untied, everyone suddenly unbuckled their belts and started to take their belongings from the cupboards above their heads.
As the plane’s aisle was returning to the market place with crowds of people, murmurs increased for the doors to open.
***
I visualized Batman Airport in such a way that I can’t describe the shock I felt when I got off the plane.
I, who gave the worst score to Adana and Kahramanmaraş Airports from my previous airport experiences, are among the airports on my list – I think- I was discovering Batman Airport, which will remain in the “last” place for many years.
After we descended to the area with the stairs approaching the plane, we were taken out of the area under the supervision of soldiers.. There were no buildings or terminals nearby.
While I could not get over the shock yet, the soldier warned me that it is forbidden to take photos.. Despite the military, I was able to capture a square.
It turns out that Batman Airport was a military airport!
As per the agreement with Turkish Airlines, it was opened to civil aviation.
When I say it was opened to civil aviation, I mean at the airport. it was allowed to make several flights a week under the supervision of the military.
Passengers, who were packed on a Mercedes 302 bus, are starting to make their way to the terminal building under the heat.. We are surrounded by soldiers carrying rifles in their hands.
I feel like someone who has come to a Central African or Latin American country to stage a coup.. We act under such serious security measures! It’s like a desert, we travel without seeing anything from the secondary road around the runway to the terminal building.
We get off the bus with an announcement as if it is the last stop.
We enter the terminal building of the airport.
