Istanbul Flights

Istanbul is serviced by 2 airports. Sabiha Gokcen is 50 km outside of the city.

When arriving at the airport you can either take the bus to Sultanhamet, get a smaller shuttle (check price first) that will leave when full but more conveniently than the bus will drop you at your hotel, or you can get a taxi.

Taxi to or from the airport (on a meter) should cost you around 100 lira depending on traffic. Expect to pay about 120 lira. There are 3 card tolls to go through - your driver may add an extra amount onto the meter for the tolls (NB the smallest toll card that can be purchased is 20 lira and is good for around 5 tolls so if there is this charge in top certainly do NOT pay over 20 lira!)

The quickest you can expect to get to the airport is 1 hour but my rcommendation would be to give yourself 2 hours as traffic can vary greatly from clogged to impossibly jammed!

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There are 2 big airports in Istanbul, one at european side and another one at the Asian part.

-Ataturk International airport is located 24km west of Istanbul, at the european side. There are 2 terminals.
To reach the city:
a)for Sultanahmet take the metro to Zeytinburnu (TL1,50) and then the tram (TL1,50) to Sultanahmet/Blue Mosque.
b)HAVAS company runs buses every 30' for Taxim Square which is the center of the city (every 30’ from 4.00am to 01.00am). Most of the hotels are around there (ask the driver if you want to get off before). This bus costs 10TRL. The Havas bus (pic 3) to the asian side costs 17TRL (2011 prices). By the way if there's traffic dont worry, check out the window and you may see some interesting scenes (pic 2)
c)taxi is a good option too. They cant steal you anymore as there is a fix price:24euro for Taksim(50TL), 18euro for Aksaray/Laleli/Beyazit(35TL) and 35euro for Kadikoy(70TL)

-At the Asian Side there is also a big international airport(Sabiha Göcken Airport) that serves many flights from abroad. HAVAS buses runs from this airport too (every 30’ from 4.00am to 01.00am).

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Istanbul Ataturk International Airport is a nice, modern facility with plenty of amenities and good transportation links to downtown Istanbul. This airport was established in 1924 and is one of the 20 busiest international airports in the world, and Europe's eighth busiest airport in terms of total passengers. The great international terminal, one of the airport's four terminals, just opened in 2000. While Turkish Air is the main airline at Istanbul, there are nearly 100 other air carriers here from large companies like Delta and British Air to Russia's SCAT air, Afghan Ariana Air, and even Iran Air and Libyan Air.

If you have a long layover (more than 4-5 hours), you can leave your bag checked for your next flight, buy a $20 US visa, and take the metro into the city. It took at least 30 minutes to get through the visa and immigration lines, and another 45 to get to Sultanahmet Station in historic Istanbul. There are other, faster options to get into town, including taxis and buses.

Istanbul has a large duty free area, plus numerous restaurants and cafes both inside and outside of security. You will also find a number of bank machines and money exchangers.

Istanbul has two airports for passengers.One is Ataturk,second one is Sabiha Gokcen Airport.Ataturk Airport is in the European,Sabiha Gokcen is in the Anatolian side of the city..Ataturk is used more..

There are shuttle bus services from both airports named Havas..The internet site is included below for you to check the schedule of the buses..

I flew roundtrip from Istanbul to Adana in southern Turkey for $90! The service was pretty good. It was about the same as Turkish Air. Onur Air travels from Istanbul to places such as Izmir, Antalya and Trabzon. All are about the same price.

Called Havaalani
Free App. giving the major airports in Turkey.

Click on the airport you need, then:-
Ic Hatlar Gelis=Domestic arrivals
Ic Hatlar Gidis=Domestic departures.
Dis Hatlar Gelis=International arrivals.
Dis Hatlar Gidis=International departures.

Flight time and gate number on the right.

For arrivals:-
Indi=Landed
(Number)Dak gecikmeli=Minutes late
Zamaninda=On time

For departures:-
Ucaga gidiniz=Go to flight
Son cagri=Last call
Kapi kapandi=Gate closed
Salona gidiniz=Go to waiting lounge
Uctu=Departed
(Number)Dak gecikmeli=Minutes late

The flight from the UK is about 4 hours and then you have to organise travel to your hotel.

We were staying in the Sultanahmet district and so had prebooked a minibus to take us directly to the hotel Also god for the way back. It may be a bit more expensive, but at least you get door to door service and this takes away some of the worries about the travel arrangements.

Here are some tipps for Atatürk airport, which is the airport for most bigger airlines like turkish airlines. If you take a no-frills airline, you probably won't arrive here, but at Sahiba Gökcen airport.

SECURITY CHECKS

For international travels, there are three checkpoints until you get to your gate, so allocate plenty of time for that: First, before you really enter the airport area, you have to have all your luggage scanned. Second, you go through the passport control, which took me about 30 minutes in line, and i think the airport wasn't that busy, so it could be worse. Third is the control, right before you go for your gate. They use the approach where they check you before you enter the gate, and then let you wait inside your gate for bording. Drawback: there are no bathrooms inside the gates.

NEWSPAPERS

If you fly turkish airlines, you get a free newspaper when you show your bording pass. There is a stand right after the security checkpost, but there were only few english language newspapers available. But as far as i understood, you can also use it within the two D&R bookstores and get a discount on their products. They have a way better selection there.

TRANSPORT TO AND FROM ATATÜRK AIRPORT TO SUlTANHAMET

From Atatürk to Sultanahmet, take the metro to Zeytinburnu first. The token is TL 1,50, and you get it from the machines there. There also is a machine to change your bills, so you don't need to have the change ready. In Zeytinburnu, you change for the tram, which is right beside the station. You will need another token for TL 1,50. This tram stops right at Sultanahmet/blue mosque. You can wheel your suitcase easily all the way, there are ramps or escalators everywhere. Trains and trams have display panels for orientation.

Back to the airport, you can take tram and metro again, or use the airport pickup services that hotels and travel agencies offer. This is like TL 8, but they only offer it this way, not form the airport.