太子探花

WASHINGTON 鈥� Flights between the U.S. and Turkey were suspended for several hours Tuesday night in the wake of the terror attacks at the Istanbul airport. They鈥檝e since resumed, but travelers in the area are nervous, but some聽are determined not to let terrorism affect their lives.

Meanwhile, no extra security was visible at Dulles International Airport in the early morning hours of Wednesday, but more聽officers turned up around 8:30 a.m.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe acknowledged that security had increased during Wednesday’s “Ask the Governor” segment on WTOP. 鈥淲e already had heightened security” at Dulles, Reagan National and the commonwealth’s other airports, he said, but after consulting with Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne and聽Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security聽Brian Moran,聽“we鈥檝e taken it to聽the next level.鈥�

The Istanbul attacks, like the Brussels attacks, happened in what’s known as the “soft,” or pre-security screening, areas of the airport. Asked about the possibility of expanding airport security perimeters, McAuliffe said he had recently been on a trade mission to Brussels, and that they had done exactly that. “We’re looking at it,” he said about taking the idea to Dulles.

Meanwhile, at Dulles Tuesday night, the events in Turkey were on people鈥檚 minds. Kelly Galloway, who was waiting for a flight to Turkey, told , 鈥淚鈥檓 nervous to go to Turkey if they just had an explosion and gun shots.鈥� She said she had no choice, though 鈥� she had to go.

Other families Tuesday night at Dulles were sweating it out, hoping that their loved ones had made it onto an outbound flight just before the attacks and the suspension of flights.

A U.S. official told The Associated Press that 10 passenger planes were in the air bound for the U.S. from Turkey when the suspension was announced; they all landed safely. At Dulles, NBC Washington reports, arriving passengers were greeted with hugs and balloons.

Ozzie Akcakaya and his wife were headed to Istanbul for vacation. He told NBC Washington聽that he was not going to let terrorists force him to live in fear.

鈥淭he only way for me to fight back against terrorism is not to change my life. So we鈥檙e not going to be scared. We will still go,鈥� he said.

McAuliffe agreed with the sentiment, telling WTOP that聽鈥淵ou do everything you possibly can to prepare, but it鈥檚 a very dangerous world. I always encourage folks to continue to do what you do every day. We cannot let these people dictate our lives to us. .. We gotta move on; we gotta live our lives.鈥�

The on Monday, a day before the attacks, saying that tourists, including Americans, have been specifically targeted by 鈥渋nternational and indigenous terrorist organizations.鈥� The State Department said Americans should avoid travel to southeastern Turkey, particularly near the Syrian border, and anywhere in Turkey they should stay away from large crowds and political gatherings.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority issued a statement in light of the attacks saying that the No. 1 priority is always the safety and security of passengers and airport employees.

“Reagan National and Dulles International airports have a robust security structure, both publicly visible and behind the scenes,” MWAA said in the statement.聽 “We constantly train our employees and evaluate our security procedures, in collaboration with our federal partners and local mutual aid partners, to make adjustments, updates and enhancements based on new information and situations.”

Authorities are asking passengers to be vigilant and remember that if you see something say something.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.