Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Hi all, we are traveling from gatwick to ercan in a couple of weeks with a connection in Istanbul, my wife is a bit worried as we only have an hour between the flights.has anyone taken this route and did you have plenty of time? Both are Turkish air planes, thanks in advance

An hour is a bit tight but we have done it, if you miss your connection because of delays they will put you on the next flight, if it's the last flight of the day to Ercan they hold it back, so don't worry.
There is a chance with a one hour that your luggage may not make it until the next flight.
Good luck I hope it goes smoothly

It depends,what airline and what airport in Istanbul are we talking about here.

Sabiha gokcen is the airport in Istanbul, we have 1hour 20 mins going out to ercan and 1 hour 5 mins coming back, now I'm getting nervous

Probably Turkish Airlines, the only one I know that flies from Gatwick to Ercan.

Hi we fly Turkish from Edinburgh for the last 2 years 5 times a week bar twice our flights were on time. It's easier now to catch your onward flight the twice we missed our connection was due to bad weather, they put us up in a hotel very nice. They put us on the morning flight. So no worries.

Sorry that was ment to say 5 times a year, lol can you imagine the air miles

I have gone from Birmingham to ercan before about 6 years ago but didn't have to leave the plane when it touched down in turkey. Do we have to go through passport control in Istanbul? Do we board the same plane or do we go to another plane at another gate? Any advice appreciated

Dan 3006

We have being using that route for years and have never (touch wood!) had any problems. You will be issued with both boarding passes at Gatwick when you check in. Generally now you go straight through to the departure lounge when you land at Istanbul, the cabin staff normally make an announcement on the plane telling you which gates connecting flights are leaving from, but if they don't there are loads of screens.

Depending on which gate you land at you may have to go through transit, which means putting your hand luggage through the X-ray again. This can be a pain because the 100ml liquid thing applies! I never get duty free at Gatwick in case this happens as I would lose my purchases! The transit area is very clearly signposted.

It really is a breeze and as long as your plane is on time an hour is plenty of time to get to your gate. If the plane is late then THY will get you another flight as soon as possible. No need to worry!

Sue

Have done this journey many times from Gatwick via Turkish Airlines to (mainly) Istanbul Ataturk Airport then Ercan. When you get into the Terminal in Istanbul, just follow the Transit sign, you will have to go through security again, so if you buy any liquids from Gatwick, just tell sales staff that you are on Transit in Istanbul and they will put your goods in a sealed bag. Normally takes me around 30 minutes to get to Gate for flight to Ercan. Never had problem with baggage not arriving at Ercan.

So when you go through Istanbul en route to Ercan do you still have to go up the escalator at the transit desk, walk through the length of the departure lounge, passing duty free, then back along past the gates and down a level to the departure gate for Ercan ?

As posted on another thread we did this connection at Ataturk airport. As has happened on many occasions,provided you have your boarding card for Ercan, you can go ahead through the departure gate on to the main concourse without security etc. However should you arrive and have to take the bus then you will have to go through transit and security.

In December when we landed at Istanbul we had our boarding pass for Ercan flight checked then we were directed straight through to departures found out which gate went up in the lift and we were there at the gate for Ercan, we had one hour to do this and did it in about 20 minutes we had to wait to board the flight to Ercan which left on time.

Have just read in Cyprus Today that Pegasus have started a 4 times a week service from Gatwick to Sabina Gokcen Airport Istanbul, with connecting flights to Ercan

Thanks for the info regarding duty free Soner! I never buy anything at Gatwick just incase I have to go to the transit X-ray. So if the bag is sealed it can go through right?

I was looking at the new Pegasus Gatwick - Ercan flights and it appeared to show a two hour stop in Istanbul on the way to Ercan, does anyone know if you change planes, stay on it or what?

Hi we are due ti fly TA on Sat 16.05 from Manchester to Ercan, via Istanbul. Have been checking actual departure times over last few days and all flights have been late departing, todays was 33 minutes late. Am so worried that we will miss the last connecting flight from Istanbul to Ercan. Has anyone experienced this situation from Manchester? Thanks.

One flight from Manchester we were 1/2hr late but they made up the time we got there on the scheduled arrival time. No problem with the 1hr time to change planes.

Thanks for reply Woodspeckie, reassuring.

Let us know if it was ok for you. I think the transfer for your flight is 1hr 35mins so shouldn't be a problem.

We had 1 hour for transfer in Istanbul plane 25 mins leaving Ercan still made the flight and amazingly our luggage also made it. Well done Turkish Airlines!!!!

Done the TA flight many times, mostly with only a 1 hour slot to catch the connection to Ercan. Each time we have caught the Ercan flight.

On landing at Istanbul and whilst taxing to the stand there is normally an announcement to let you know what gate the Ercan flight is departing from. Also if the inbound flight is late, we have been met as we bot off the plane and a group of us fast tracked thro the terminal and security to departure gate.

Sometimes we have had to disembark the inbound flight, walk thro the terminal, go thro security checks and then down to departure gate....can be a bit of a rush but can be done. Other times our inbound flight has parked up at the stand, with the Ercan flight only 2 or 3 stands away. We have got off and not gone thro security but walked about 30mtrs and were good to go.

For duty free, when we have purchased we normally let the sales person know we will be in transit at Istanbulmand boarding another flight. Duty free placed in a sealed bag and providing not opened there were no issues.

Luggage....only once has it failed to be transferred in time. We filled in paperwork at Ercan, were told it would be on next flight. Had option to sit around for 2 hrs and wait or go home and have it delivered next day. Decided to go home. Following day rather than sit around waiting for delivery we popped back to Ercan and collected. It was no problem and as we had chosen the tight connection times we felt we could not really complain. When booking flights with TA you can select connections which give you more time in Istanbul.

Thanks for comments advice, very helpful. Will let you know how we get on.

Flew Manchester to Ercan via Istanbul for 10 years 3-4 times a year with Turkish Airline ( No other choice) Never missed a flight,one piece of luggage on the last flight,when we came to live here.Arrived on the next flight10/10 to TA.

Just to let you all know although our flight from Manchester was about 30minutes late leaving, we had no problems at all catching the last plane out of Istanbul onto Ercan. Even our luggage was almost first on the carousel at Ercan. No problems whatsoever. Will definitely go for the later flights again.