Istanbul Airport uses ‘therapy dogs’ for passengers with flight stress

The airport has ’employed’ five specially trained therapy dogs for a pilot project. The animals, equipped with blue blankets, roam through the departure halls with their supervisors.

Abdülkadir Demirtaş, Istanbul Airport’s customer experience manager, said in a statement: “With the therapy dogs, we want to give people a pleasant and stress-free experience.” According to Demirtaş, there is scientific evidence for “the positive effects of human-animal interaction on blood pressure, stress and anxiety levels.”

Istanbul Airport generally insists on being ‘animal friendly’. There are four “pet rooms” that the company says will meet the needs of passengers with traveling animals.