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Out with the old, In with the new

If you’re coming to Bodrum and have a layover in Istanbul, you may be confused about the arrival of Istanbul’s new airport—aptly named, Istanbul Airport. Even though it was open at the end of last year, it won’t be fully compete until 2028.

The confusing thing at the moment are the airport codes. At the moment the older Atatürk Airport uses the IST code, and the Istanbul Airport uses ISL. But when Atatürk closes down, the IST code will transfer over to Istanbul Airport and ISL will be retired.

Public Transport from Istanbul Airport

What I loved about Atatürk Airport was the metro lines that connected it to the city. It was easy to hop on the train and you only had to change once, to get into the heart of the city. Two new metro lines to connect the new airport to the city are being built but for now you’ll have to use road transport.

This new airport is 50 km/31 miles northwest of Sultanahmet, which is the heart of historic Istanbul, and where lot’s of the main sights (like the Blue Mosque, and Hagia Sophia) are located. You can get an airport bus to various points within the city. As you ca  see from this timetable, the buses leave the airport and Sultanahmet at ten past each hour, and the last bus of the day is 23:10. Click on this link to see their complete timetable list.

For more details about the new Istanbul Airport, you can visit the wikipedia page.

The new Istanbul Airport is being touted as the biggest in the world, and it’s a good thing for passengers that it’s expanding. Each and every time I’ve traveled via Atatürk on an international flight and had to clear immigration before walking to the domestic terminal for my Bodrum flight, it was always a nailing experience. You never knew how long it was going to take to clear immigration, and the lines were always at capacity. Hopefully this new airport will ease the situation, and that this purpose-build airport is running and fully operational next time I have a lay over there.

Another airport I’ve had a layover at is SAW. Usually out of season, when there’s no direct flights to Bodrum, so I’ve had to travel from the UK to Bodrum, via Istanbul SAW—usually with an inconveniently long lay over.

Sabiha Gökçen International Airport

Istanbul’s other airport is Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW), is located on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. In this Google map, you can see the new airport located in the upper left, and the SAW airport in the bottom right.

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If you’ve got any questions about coming to Bodrum via Istanbul, just let me know in the comments section. We’ve had so many lay overs in Istanbul over the years we’ve been in Turkey, so fire over your questions…