Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) —  An Airbus A320 belonging to the private airline Qanot Sharq, operating flight HH572 from Istanbul to Samarkand, made an emergency landing at the airport in the small town of Merzifon in the northern Turkish province of Amasya on Monday evening.

According to Turkish media, the incident occurred less than an hour after takeoff when the crew reported an emergency situation on board.

Data from FlighRadar24 indicates that the aircraft, registered as UK32031, began its descent shortly after the issue was detected.

Turkish media reports that the cause of the emergency landing was a cabin pressure drop.

There were 152 people on board the aircraft (according to other sources, 149 passengers and 3 crew members). The aircraft landed safely, and the passengers were accommodated in the Merzifon airport terminal.

Qanot Sharq stated in an official announcement that it would arrange a replacement flight to transport passengers from Merzifon to Samarkand as soon as possible.

Due to the incident, the airline also canceled several flights scheduled for August 27, including:

- HH-741 Samarkand — St. Petersburg;

- HH-744 St. Petersburg — Namangan;

- HH-743 Namangan — St. Petersburg;

- HH-742 St. Petersburg — Samarkand.

Passengers on the canceled flights will receive a refund for their tickets and are also entitled to one free ticket within a year for similar routes.