Istanbul Airport

Made good use of TAV passport card. Exclusive security clearance at airport entrance (no one in line) golf cart buggy to a distant gate made transiting Istanbul a breeze. If you travel through Istanbul frequently this may make for a good investment. It makes life so much easier at a busy airport. Business lounge for Turkish Airlines. The best in the world. The airport it self was packed at peak travel time. If I didn't have the TAV card or the use of the lounge then my review would not have been as positive.

One of the worst airports I've visited (and I do travel a lot). First impression is 'controlled chaos' but after a few minutes you realize that you should skip the word 'controlled'. Tons of people pushing from each side fast track for business class being much slower in terms of passport control than regular line (just one desk conducting passport control for all business class passengers). No A/C or working miserably especially in the domestic terminal area (I was flying Luxembourg - Istanbul - Izmir so I had to go from international to domestic). No gate number on the screens when it was stated 'boarding' it did not even started. When I've seen 'last call' I rushed being a bit stressed that I will miss the flight but the boarding was about to start. The staff are rather polite and if asked can give you directions but overall - a terrible experience. Avoid if possible.

This is the worst Airport I have been toand considering I travel extensively for business that is a bold statement. I flew in at 18.30hrs and joined what was already a very long queue for immigration. It was hot and sticky in the building and with the amount of people in the queue it got hotter. Time dragged and the queue was very slow for non Nationals however that was not the worst of it because as subsequent flights arrived more people joined the queue but a lot of passengers started pushing in. I had been in the queue now for 1.5hrs and was in no mood. People were shouting I saw some women crying and in my opinion this situation was ignored by the airport staff. After 2hrs I got through immigration and off to the baggage reclaim. When I looked at the screen it was so late my flight had been removed. I went to the Pegasus office and asked where my checked luggage was? They began to see if the bag was not taken off the flight and had moved on to another airport but then a fellow passenger told me there was a lot of bags on the floor at the end of the first carousel. I had a look and there is was dumped on the floor! I could not leave quickly enough. The immigration queue leaving was not too bad but I did go to the airport particularly early 4hrs to ensure I got on my flight!

My teenage son feels it is worth avoiding this airport I wouldn't go that far but its not a superb experience. When we flew (to FRA on THY June 2014) one had to go through full security before entering the terminal. There wasn't obviously anyone to help if a passenger were too frail to lift ones (not yet checked) bags onto a table above waist level for the x-ray. So we then assumed that IST just does security in a different order having cleared security we bought water for the flight (at reasonable prices) before passport control. Only after passport control can you see that there's a second identical security check and you have to discard that water. Still thirsty or hungry? The final set of shops and restaurants have the most outrageous prices you have ever encountered in any airport anywhere. So we had about $10 worth of Turkish lira left but could buy almost nothing with it. Why not exchange it for € or $ at the currency exchange? No they say the amount we had didn't meet their minimum! The roads to IST from Sultanahmet were fast and uncrowded at least at 6am. The ticketing check-in agents were unusually friendly and efficient; the passport control line was really long but moved quickly. Fairly crowded waiting at the gate (but there was decent seating) and then we were jam-packed standing onto a bus to get to the plane. But on-time departure and so again it was fine.

With queuing time from ½ to 1½ hour in immigration/passport control on both arrivals and departures it is surely an airport to avoid. Immigration officers are inefficient rude and not very service minded. Even if hundreds of people are waiting sometime only half the desks are manned. If you have a connecting domestic flight you are never sure if you have enough time.

Ataturk Airport is going downhill fast. Too many flights coming and going and the delays are increasing. Now passengers have to wait 40 minutes for their luggage.

Ataturk Airport does seem to be a nice and cozy airport when you arrive there. However within seconds you find yourself in a spot between a rock and a hard place. I was a transit passenger en route from Sofia to Bahrain via Istanbul on the 15th of April this year. I had to wait for almost 8 hours in the departure terminal of the airport upon which I will base my review. To be honest there aren't many seating arrangements in the terminal. And this is what the first problem with the airport - there needs to be an increase in the number of seats in comparison to the influx of the passengers coming in and out of the airport. For a layover of more than 3 hours a passenger will need a wifi connection to connect to which unfortunately this airport seems not to have. Instead there is a wifi connection for which you have to pay to use. And connecting to it is a waste of time and battery. Regarding the cost of a meal in there it is much more expensive compared to the other airports I've traveled by - Sofia Vrazhdebna Airport and Bahrain International Airport. The ground staff are not the most helpful of people and are at times mean. There are 2 counters for every gate but often only one is operational. This is an example of the laziness of the ground staff and this reflects badly on the impression of Turkey that others have. I wouldn't recommend this airport to anyone.

Fly to (not through - never did) Istanbul 3-4 times a year. Haven't seen a more sterile and glamorous airport so far. (i.e most frequent flights to Munich Vienna Dulles Newark JFK O'Hare SF Tacoma). I am shocked and compelled to write this review with the comments written here especially by the US citizens complaining about the queues in the passport checks. The passport queues are incomparable to the US east coast airports and their ridiculous pick-and-drop luggage policies. While flying from Istanbul especially if you are with THY the check- in queues might be longer. It is best to use the check-in kiosks and leave the baggage at the designated counter. The cafes and restaurants are a little overpriced compared to the prices in the city.

I read a lot of horror stories about this airport but it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. Upon arrival we were at a remote stand and had to take a bus to the terminal. The immigration line was about one hour but most stands were manned so we figured that this was a result of multiple international flights arriving at the primary entry point to Turkey. While it wasn't fun we understood why the line was that long. A couple of days later we returned to depart for Bucharest early morning arrival. Security to enter the terminal was not long at all and the check-in for the airline was about a 10 minute wait. Same for outbound immigration and security. We had breakfast at the food court it was more expensive than downtown Istanbul but comparable to Western airports. Boarding was not a problem but no seating at the departure gate (again by bus). Returning home we were transiting from Bucharest through IST to Boston and we didn't have connecting boarding passes (although our luggage was checked through). No line at the transit desk to get the connecting boarding pass friendly staff. No line at the international transfer security checkpoint. Although our transfer time was only 1 hr 20 mins we had plenty of time to go through duty free between flights. Boarding for BOS the departure gate had the enhanced USA security which meant standing in line about 20 minutes but it moved along quickly. All in all IST was a good airport. There are plenty of signs to direct you wherever you need to go as long as you pay attention to where you're supposed to go next you won't have any problems.

This incredibly badly designed airport has one major flaw - there is nowhere to sit! If you are waiting for your gate to be called you are forced to stay in the chaotic and crowded main departure hall. There are no seating areas other than very expensive bars and restaurants. When I asked at an information desk where I could go to just sit down I was directed to a lounge that was going to cost around $40 to enter. My theory is that they deliberately do not give you seating areas so that you are forced to end up wandering the shopping areas or buying ridiculously overpriced food and drink.