Flying through Ataturk Airport (Istanbul, Turkey) in 11 days

[kris_hetfield 11]

It was bad enough to hear ISIS attacking ataturk airport, but now with this coup the situation in Turkey seems very unstable. I am only travelling there on the 29th with a short 2 hr transit. What are your opinions?

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

Impossible to say, a lot can change in 10 days, and the airport is already open with limited service now.

[Gafelkins56 2]

Says airport resume open

[charmander 692]

Flights from/to USA resumed yesterday. I wouldn't expect any issues but your two hour transit might be little tight. If you haven't traveled to IST airport before, transfers to the terminals are usually done with buses, which means after you land, it may take another 20-30 minutes to get to the terminal. If they check you in to you next flight from Boston (which they should), it should be fine but otherwise you may need to visit the transit desk to get your next boarding pass.

[kris_hetfield 11]

Flights from/to USA resumed yesterday. I wouldn't expect any issues but your two hour transit might be little tight. If you haven't traveled to IST airport before, transfers to the terminals are usually done with buses, which means after you land, it may take another 20-30 minutes to get to the terminal. If they check you in to you next flight from Boston (which they should), it should be fine but otherwise you may need to visit the transit desk to get your next boarding pass.

I had a feeling i'd see you in this thread Charmander

I've been there before in January. At least then I had both my boarding passes and the plane pulled right up to the gate. Maybe there will be buses this time though.

[charmander 692]

I had a feeling i'd see you in this thread Charmander

I've been there before in January. At least then I had both my boarding passes and the plane pulled right up to the gate. Maybe there will be buses this time though.

You should have pinged me in the first place.

My last three trips were all transferred with buses. I feel like they use gates for their spotlight flights LAX, JFK, etc. Unfortunately Boston doesn't feel like it. At least they recently switched to A330s now, you won't fly with the stone age A340s. My folks are flying back to IST this Sunday. I'll update you if they face any trouble.

[kris_hetfield 11]

You should have pinged me in the first place.

My last three trips were all transferred with buses. I feel like they use gates for their spotlight flights LAX, JFK, etc. Unfortunately Boston doesn't feel like it. At least they recently switched to A330s now, you won't fly with the stone age A340s. My folks are flying back to IST this Sunday. I'll update you if they face any trouble.

You're right actually, last time I flew from JFK which must be why it went to the gate. When you've gone to IST from Logan, do they give you both boarding passes as well? And would appreciate the update on your folk's flight

[charmander 692]

You're right actually, last time I flew from JFK which must be why it went to the gate. When you've gone to IST from Logan, do they give you both boarding passes as well? And would appreciate the update on your folk's flight

IST is the final destination most of my flights but I once flew Dulles->Istanbul->Rome with Turkish Airlines and for that one they gave me the boarding pass for the Istanbul connection at Dulles They would also check your luggage to your final destination so you won't need to claim any luggage at IST. However, with the latest happenings, all of this may have changed.

[charmander 692]

Things may change again. They just declared a state of emergency for three months. Not sure how FAA would react to this. Stay tuned.

[kris_hetfield 11]

Things may change again. They just declared a state of emergency for three months. Not sure how FAA would react to this. Stay tuned.

Yup, heard about the news. Time to see how this show unfolds.

[kmccormick 1]

A friend of mine flew through Atatürk airport a day or two ago and said it was business as usual. As others have already said, that doesn't mean it'll necessarily be the same by the time you're flying through. I'll be connecting in Istanbul (with less than two hours to switch from domestic to international and go through security again - yikes!) when I finally return to the States in September. Hope things go smoothly for both of us - good luck to you!

[kris_hetfield 11]

A friend of mine flew through Atatürk airport a day or two ago and said it was business as usual. As others have already said, that doesn't mean it'll necessarily be the same by the time you're flying through. I'll be connecting in Istanbul (with less than two hours to switch from domestic to international and go through security again - yikes!) when I finally return to the States in September. Hope things go smoothly for both of us - good luck to you!

Yup, hard to predict what'll happen 1 week from now. Safe travels and good luck on the domestic/international switch!

[kris_hetfield 11]

You should have pinged me in the first place.

My last three trips were all transferred with buses. I feel like they use gates for their spotlight flights LAX, JFK, etc. Unfortunately Boston doesn't feel like it. At least they recently switched to A330s now, you won't fly with the stone age A340s. My folks are flying back to IST this Sunday. I'll update you if they face any trouble.

Hi Charmander,

How did your folks find the situation in Ataturk over the weekend?

Edited July 25, 2016 by kris_hetfield

[charmander 692]

Hi Charmander,

How did your folks find the situation in Ataturk over the weekend?

Hey kris, my folks flew last night. They are about to board their domestic connection to Ankara now. Talked briefly this morning while they were running through the terminal, they said they were transferred with buses. Other than that no issues. They even sat down to the last row of the plane (it wasn't a full flight, they got whole rows for themselves to sleep nicely).

No issue checking in at Logan either. Flight was 11:30pm, we got there around 9:15pm. Around 9:45p they were all done with security checks and such.

[kris_hetfield 11]

Hey kris, my folks flew last night. They are about to board their domestic connection to Ankara now. Talked briefly this morning while they were running through the terminal, they said they were transferred with buses. Other than that no issues. They even sat down to the last row of the plane (it wasn't a full flight, they got whole rows for themselves to sleep nicely).

No issue checking in at Logan either. Flight was 11:30pm, we got there around 9:15pm. Around 9:45p they were all done with security checks and such.

Great. Sounds like everything went smoothly! Thanks for the update

Edited July 25, 2016 by kris_hetfield