Istanbul Airport

I travel frequently to different countries. This airport is not one of the best one I have been to but it is definitely not the worst. It used to be a better airport as in being efficient. The reason is the number of passengers going through is increasing and the airport is not able handle 45 million passengers a year even though they expanded passport control desks and duty free section. There is one main problem. Queues! Everywhere you go. Security Check-in desk passport control then security again. The staff never smile. Duty free shops and restaurants are ok. I have used the new business class lounge that couple of airline companies jointly use. It is quite nice. I think the airport is clean.

Visited the airport twice as transit passenger to Antalya. Not very helpful staff rather rude bad English limited seating and resting space. Generally not recommended.

I approached Istanbul airport with some trepidation after reading all the reviews maybe with such low expectations it turned out to be better than I anticipated. Certainly the security is tight with security before you even enter the airport and while the lines were longish they moved quite quickly and the staff seemed polite. The airport is certainly crowded but after a week in Istanbul you realise that is the norm for this city we travelled on public transport at various times and never scored a seat so maybe we were not surprised. The toilets seemed clean the shops varied (the ones selling Turkish delight certainly offer enough samples to make a meal!) and the other amenities seemed adequate. All in all the experience was fine - it is a busy airport and I can imagine when it is operating at capacity things could get quite hectic. One last point public transport is pain to the airport because of the crowds take a taxi but negotiate your fair before you set out.

Airport badly in need of seating. Almost no seats before check in opens so if you see one grab it and don't move. Plenty of space here for seats so their absence is odd. Airside seats are also very few and some gates near the entries are colonised by passengers awaiting their gate number to be confirmed. Periodically staff clear out the occupiers so passengers actually using that gate can wait. Still too few seats one gate had exactly four seats leaving all the other passengers for a 737-800 standing. Too few screens showing all gate information and gate changes seem to be frequent. PA is very difficult to hear due to noise and rapid fire delivery. Food facilities limited. Coming in immigration is very slow up to an hours wait in the off peak was experienced. Not helped by passengers without Turkish visas missing the small signs directing them to the visa pay office then joining the immigration line and eventually being sent back to have to queue again. Relatively easy problems to fix but many are of very long standing.

The morning (and also the whole day) of 2013/10/11 I had my worst airport experience at Ataturk airport. Our departure was 08.15. Arrived at the airport at 06.15. Online check-in was done evening before. First problem was to get into the building for first security screening. When that was done I looked for the baggage drop. Building was full and queues everywhere. Very difficult to find a queue for only the baggage drop. I made it at 06.45 and was looking for my gate. When I found the passport-control with it's queue-area I understood that we were in trouble. Queue continued out in the building and the end could not be seen. Amazed by the length all the way to check-in counters A. My wife was standing in the queue and I tried to get help. Approx 08.15 we were facing the fenced queue-area the passport-control was not fully staffed. With thousands of people queuing desperately they had not opened all counters. Missed our flights after being redirected 4 times to different counters we were told that we could buy new tickets if we wanted. In a rude way I was told it was my problem. After some discussion I got the choice to get a flight at 21.00 if I paid a penalty fee of 100 EUR. Spent 14 hours at the airport due to the fact that they do not have capability to do the passport-control in a reasonable time.

I have been to airports all over the world this is the easily the worst. Most staff are rude from check in to catering staff. The signage is confusing toilets repulsive and very few seats are all important issues that need to be addressed. Getting in via arrivals is farcical and bedlam the crowds of people trying to get into the checkpoint lines is like nothing I have seen. Strangely their visa office doesn't accept Turkish Lira. Sterling Euros and USD only. The food court is difficult to get a seat people stand around watching and waiting for others to leave this is probably the best way to get a seat other than being in the right place at right time. Refreshments are expensive even more so in the bars which are situated next to each other and are same price same owners same food etc. Turkish Airlines have recently been bringing in more and more passengers however this has not been complemented by expansion but with price increases.

I have used numerous times for transfer. Recently I had a stop over in Istanbul so I had to leave the airport. Clearing immigration does take time but the lines moved quickly and the new e-visa system for many passengers is helping. Trying to find the person with your name sticker when leaving customs isn't easy as the area is so busy and there are signs everywhere. Outside is equally chaotic with buses shuttles and taxis. Pre-arrange your transport if you are a first-time user. But it does give you a taster for Istanbul itself which is busy and hectic. Check-in on return was quick and smooth but you do have to scan all your luggage immediately entering the airport so be prepared for that. Post customs and immigration there is a limited range of shops and facilities and the airport is almost always busy. The waiting area for flights at the gates is generally spacious and comfortable but none that I have used have had toilet facilities.

This is now a very busy hub airport for Turkish Airlines. A fair wait for aircraft to reach available airbridge or remote stand after touchdown. We used both the international and domestic terminals. Airbridges available for inbound flight from London and onward domestic flight to Bodrum. Remote stand and bus transfer to domestic terminal coming back. Airbridge available for flight back to London. Layover in either terminal was no longer than 1.5 hours. Fairly lengthy queues for non-Turkish passport holders at immigration. Certainly nothing of the order that non-EU passport holders would face on arrival in the UK. Immigration officers were efficient and good humoured. We had pre-purchased Turkish e-VISAs via the Turkish Government's web site and would definitely recommend that especially if arriving at particularly busy times or face an additional queue of 20+ minutes to obtain your Turkish visa then queue up for immigration control. As others have stated signage in the terminals in English is not good and could definitely be improved upon. Security screening staff were fine. Did not find them any better or worse than those at UK airports. Again as others have said plenty of places to eat and drink as long as you are prepared to pay the prices for food and drink (post security screening) which were as we anticipated expensive but comparable to other airports we've used. Toilets both gents and ladies were clean. There was plenty of seating available in both terminals at the times we used them. Overall a fair to good experience at an airport clearly nearing the limits of it's capacity.

On my transit to Zagreb at this airport I landed with more or less 3 hours to spare. They were long queues everywhere (check-ins security check points immigration counters toilets duty free outlets). It took me nearly 2 hours and 30 minutes from getting my boarding pass until I arrived at the departure gate. For ease of mind have at least 4 hours while in transit at IST. In general the staff that I have encountered were fine but not overly friendly.

Extremely rude staff very abrupt and most of them did not speak English will try and avoid travelling through this airport next time had to spend 7 hours at the airport due to flight delay with nowhere to sit. Transit queues very long food choice is ok but very expensive. Toilets cleanliness was fair considering the number of people passing through.