Istanbul Airport

✅ Trip Verified | I was passing through the baggage checkpoint with my wife and my infant baby girl. We were carrying a lot of bags and I was carrying them alone and my wife was carrying the baby. When I put all the bags on the scanner machine, the security man allowed only my wife and the baby to pass and asked my to “Stop!” I told him that this is my family. How will my wife unload the bags from the scanner machine? He does not answer me and does not allow me to pass! Until my wife had to put the baby girl on the floor to unload the bags while I was watching my baby girl on the floor who could barely sit because she is only 8 months old and she might fall on her head!! All this was in front of my eyes and I was screaming and saying, “My child, let me pass!” There is no response. Then the security man allowed me to pass, but he told me to stop aside and test me for drugs test. What chaos and madness. The worst experiences in my life were at this ridiculous airport. Insults, mismanagement and childish behavior! Very disappointed!!

Not Verified | I booked a flight for my unaccompanied 58-year-old mother, who is not tech-savvy and doesn't speak Turkish. Despite arriving at the airport over 3 hours early for her flight, the check-in counter opened just 2 hours before the flight. The officer denied her a printed boarding pass even when he was repeatedly asked to provide her with it, he stated that the E-Boarding pass on her phone (obtained through online check-in with no/old gate number) was enough. Despite witnessing her situation, he didn't arrange for or offer any special assistance. When she reached the gate mentioned on her E-Boarding pass that she was directed towards, she found out that the gate number for her flight had changed without any notice. After a lot of struggle and reaching the correct gate, she found that the flight had departed. She was left stranded at the airport for approximately 5 hours with no support. She was alone and kept asking for help inside, but nobody understood or helped her willingly, and any airline or airport staff she approached was not able to assist her or guide her, they kept on saying they had no information. There were no passenger calls made in her name that could reach her. And as a result, she ended up missing the flight. Despite explaining the entire ordeal, the airline has refused to acknowledge their fault or to reschedule the flight. This is utterly unjust.

✅ Trip Verified | I thought Istanbul Airport would have settled down by now since it was brand new when I flew first 5 years ago but it has not. This is a major huge international Airport that needs Customer Service booths 24 hours a day in multiple places to guide & help passengers. During the day there is still airport staff all over the place you can ask for help but God-forbid you land there at night needing to connect to another flight, you are all on your own in that 3-mile-long airport. There is no airport staff to be found anywhere to ask questions, its like a graveyard. They need to have luggage trolley stations all over the place but they do not. You have to find the far away location to get one & you do not know where that is. WiFi should be available to passengers immediately upon landing but its not. You have to go to special booths to register with 25 people waiting before you to get access. Not good. I landed there from LA later at night, had a 3-hour layover, got out of my gate, asked a couple of uniformed people right outside exiting my plane if they can look up my next flight gate number on their airport phones tablets, their reply is “I don’t know”! I cannot help you! (And, most of them don’t speak English). They pointed me to the big screens farther away to find it myself. They said “The gate number will be decided & posted on the board eventually before your flight”. You wait & wait & wait; no gate info shows up. And finally, when & if it does show up right before your flight, you are historically rushing & running with you carry on bags, exhausted from your previous flight to the next gate which is far far away. Mind you, this airport is like 8 football fields long & wide. Istanbul airport needs to install customer service booths in multiple spots at the airport to help passengers 24/7, people employed at the airport should be able to speak English fluently, should be able to look up on their airport tablet / airport phones & tell weary passengers what gate number they need to go & point them to the right direction. I will never go through Istanbul airport. I will also discourage other people from doing so as well.

✅ Trip Verified | Arrival: Clean airport and fast passport control. However it was difficult to navigate towards shuttles to the city and metro as not many signs are placed. Overall I'm satisfied with an arrival experience. Departure: Check-in and passport control are passed swiftly and without significant delays. While some security screening checkpoints are now providing an opportunity not to remove liquids and electronics from your luggage, some still require you to, and since you're being assigned a checkpoint by an officer in line, the need to separate liquids still exist and depends on a luck of a checkpoint being assigned to you. I find paid wifi (one hour free then at least 6 euros to continue) to be an off-putting decision that, considering high both food and beverages prices, is ridiculous and therefore feeling of being seen as a walking-wallet is rather disturbant. Toilets are clean and located almost everywhere which is a huge advantage for the airport considering its size. Agents near the gate seemed to mess up the boarding group sequences as well as departure time and therefore all passengers were standing in front of the gate for about half an hour. One of the agents was behaving unprofessionally as she was rude and blamed passengers for actions of other agent. Overall I find departing experience to be repulsive and would prefer a better attitude towards passengers.

✅ Trip Verified | The worst airport I've ever been. The staff is rude, unpolite and arrogant. The only reason to visit this airport is Turkish Airlines. Its better to avoid this place. You are not welcome here. Prices are too high as well. Unpleasant place!

Not Verified | Beautiful design, large and it all stops here. This is one of the most expensive airports, high prices and "hidden" tactics. One beer 16 euro's, front desk bottled water 10 euro. TK ground personnel, not friendly, making you feel unwelcome. For its size this airport does not have enough seating.

✅ Trip Verified | Overpriced coffee (10£ for an iced latte). People are rude and unclear for no reason. Internet is only free for one hour which is stupid for an airport.

✅ Trip Verified | The airport is nice and ticks all the boxes for a modern airport. However, shops, food, and beverages are overly pricey. A terrible kebab starts from 10 euros, same for beers. How is possible to charge 12 euros for a Corona? WiFi is easy to access, although is not fast and especially not stable. 1 hour is free, 2 hours 6.50, and the daily pass is 9.50. Lounges are nice but, again, overpriced. Staff is generally grumpy. I understand the new airport cost a lot, however, passengers have the feeling to be scammed. It’s enough to walk through tables to hear complaints.

Not Verified | The airport is nice but the vending drink machine prices are daylight robbery. The airport should screen the vendors and ensure prices are reasonable.

✅ Trip Verified | The worst airport I've ever seen, the staff are rude and arrogant, they only speak Turkish and when we ask to speak to them in English they tell us you're in Turkey, they only speak Turkish. The customs officer even shouted at my 7 year old daughter who didn't understand what was being asked of her because they spoke Turkish to her when I asked her to stop shouting she told me to "go" as if I were in her own home it's the first time I've been faced with a situation like this I travel quite often with my children and we're always welcome at Istanbul airport you have to teach your staff that families always have priority and are given a warm welcome. They are never at the service of the people on the contrary they give you the impression that you are not welcome in their country they only have to announce that clearly and say that it is not an open country for tourists NB: on the same day I took a flight from Trabzon the people there were friendly, you wouldn't think you were in the same country