Turkish airlines and New Istanbul airport

[Spud50]

We flew from Edinburgh yesterday with TA. Having read of the experience of one kibkomer in an earlier post, I was quite concerned about making the Ercan connection. We landed in Istanbul and took about 15 minutes to taxi to the disembarkation point. About the same as previously. When we got into the airport, it was about a 15 minute walk to the Ercan gate. We landed at gate F and had to walk to gate B. Probably as far apart as you can get! The airport is stunning with plenty of room for getting from one point to another without having to shuffle around and behind others. Hope this is useful for those flying in the near future with TA.

[frugal90]

Thanks we fly from Edinburgh at the beginning of may. We only have 1he and 15 mins, do you think it enough? Did you have to go through security again?

[Spud50]

We had about the same amount of time so it should be fine. We didn’t have to go through security again. We did have sets of stairs to climb so be aware of that.

[mrsgee]

We went on the first day of the new airport taking over so all very new, with some hiccups. If we had only had an hour fifteen minutes there is no way we would have made the connection due to the plane having to disembark away from the terminal and then having to be bussed after taxi-Ing for almost half hour. If the plane had docked at a gate the time would have been enough, but it didn’t on the day. We had to go through security but it was very efficient and I suspect due to being bussed rather than entering through docking point. Didn’t have stairs to climb, but escalators.

[jfoggy]

Thanks for info. We fly from Manchester soon have been getting anxious about the changes and whether or not transfers will go smoothly. Are the signs and directions to Ercan departure gate clear?

[mrsgee]

Yes it was easy to find the gate. Look on the screens to find your gate... Plenty of signs to get you to the gate.

[jfoggy]

Thanks Mrsgee very reassuring. Can start looking forward to our trip. ☺

[JoandJelly]

I arrived Thursday night from Stansted with AtlasGlobal. Flight was 1 hour late leaving Stansted. Landed at 19.55 and took nearly 30 mins to reach the disembarkation point which was straight into the terminal. You need to follow the red signs for international transfers and we did have to go through security. The gate was miles away and it took about 20 minutes in total at a very fast pace. The flight to Ercan was at 20.45 and luckily it was delayed otherwise I would not have made it. The bus to the plane took about 10 minutes and taxiing to the runway took about 15 minutes. I would not choose to go via that route again and will stick with Pegasus in future.

[Dropshort]

Thanks for your post JoandJelly. Have been waiting for someone to report on the Atlas Jet route. You have just confirmed our fears. One of the reasons we have avoided the Istanbul route for some years was the transit issue. Walking from one end of the old airport to the other was a nightmare. Did you notice any assistance available for the infirm?

[Spud50]

I saw quite a lot of the carts ready for assistance. Didn’t need it myself but they looked ready.

[Dropshort]

Any further updates/experiences on transiting the new airport? Particularly interested in those who have travelled with Atlas Global. We fly Tuesday 23rd April on the 07.45 out of Ercan/Stansted. Any info very much appreciated.

[RAZR63]

Whilst travelling back from the UK I left my Laptop in the cabin locker on the Turkish Airlines plane I was travelling on at the new ISL Istanbul and it is now at their lost property office at the airport. Unfortunately I am not travelling through there in the next few month. If anyone is travelling through there in May could you please collect it for me and bring it back to TRNC? It can be carried as additional baggage at no extra cost.

[branscombe]

We used Atlas on Wednesday. We arrived on time at the new Istanbul airport and were staggered by the size of the place. It took 20 minutes from landing to get to the gate then another 25 minutes to get through transit and to the gate for our flight to Stansted. The airport is massive and whilst we had 90 minutes for the next flight we made it with around 30 minutes to spare.
Unusually the plane left 45 minutes late whilst waiting for passengers to arrive.

The new airport is very impressive but I think during holiday season we will be using Larnaca.

[Dropshort]

Thanks branscombe for your useful post.

[snail921]

Flew Atlas, Ercan / Yeni Istanbul / Stansted on Tuesday. On time throughout. No busses anywhere, parked at stand. Very quick through transit, excellent signage, no problem finding gate, had more than an hour.
Only problem, too few staff on gate security. Every bag searched, every body searched, took far too long and they were far from skilled at their task. I could have been carrying anything.
Overall, a great improvement on the old setup
Brian.

[MVP]

It's about 25 minutes to taxi from the runway to the terminal .
I don't why they built the two so far apart as it adds condiderable time to a transfer.
A beautiful airport but a flawed layout IMO

[Deniz1]

See my post about Turkish Airlines assistance or lack of.

[Jonnie]

Just to add to the confusion. New Istanbul ISL has become IST and Ataturk is now ISL.

[meldy]

Thanks for the info spud50, we have family travelling the Edinburgh - Ercan route in July and I was wondering if their 1 hour 20 minutes would be long enough.

[jimm]

Should have no problem we did it on Wednesday, long walk between gates but did it in 30 minutes from arriving at first gate