IST airport connections

Is that on two separate tickets, or a single ticket all the way through?

If on a single ticket, I would not worry too terribly much much about it, as Turkish Airlines would put you on the next flight if you miss the first one.

If on two separate tickets, you might make it, but I would consider that connection not exactly tight but nearly so. IST is a huge airport, you will need to do considerable walking, and although IME most things there are fairly efficient, you may find multiple/extra security screenings each with its own line.

You may be making this harder than it needs to be: Lufthansa and Turkish are both in Star Alliance, so they're partners. If you have two tickets, have you considered simply rebooking it all as a single itinerary? (If you haven't, I'd suggest you explore that option.) If you can, and do, then it's no longer your problem if you mis-connect. In that case, they'll just put you on the next available flight, which as you have seen is just a few hours later so should be no big deal.

Where is your Lufthansa flight coming from? Wondering if you could do the whole thing on Turkish Airlines and skip Lufthansa (and its presumed stop in Germany) altogether.

On one ticket, easy. On 2 tickets, sure: but why? But I would do the later flight if you have 2 tickets cause if yoi did miss the earlier flight its all on you.

On a single ticket, your bags will be checked all the way through.

Thanks all, it is on 2 separate tickets. Flying in from Atlanta. I will look into combining or moving to the later flight just to be safe

On two tickets I'd opt for the later flight. As David stated, Istanbul airport is huge and there is a lot of walking involved....a lot. There's also the additional security that needs to be taken into consideration. My experience has been that Turkish Airways calls boarding a lot earlier than most other airlines not least because there's generally an additional security screening at the departure gate. My last flight out of Istanbul they were issuing final calls for passengers yet the queue at security was still fairly long, there were a lot of anxious passengers looking as if they feared they might miss their flight.

In my book 2:45 should be enough time to make the connection. Assuming 30-40 mins to get through immigration and pick up your bag (I’ve arrived a few times at 4:30 AM and have seen 3-5 folks in the immigration line). And another 30-60 mins to recheck in and get through security.

First off, both TK and LH are star alliance carriers and they are normally pretty good at interlining bags across different tickets. Call LH and ask them if they will check your bags onto the TK flights so you don’t have to pick them up in IST. Note - I’ve done this a few times in the past without issue but it has been quite a few years since I last did this.

Security - this is based on transiting through IST at least 8 times in the last 12 months. I’ve not had to go through security when arriving from the US or Europe - just allowed straight into the terminal. However, when coming in from Africa I’ve always had to go through security before heading to a lounge or connecting gate. If you are able to interline your bag, you will most likely not have to go through security assuming you LH flight is from FRA or MUC.

Looked at the Lufthansa site ( for April) and could not find an ATL-IST routing that arrives at 6 AM.

What did I miss? Care to share ?

Well it was this one, but my flight got changed to the following
Your flight from ATL to FRA Thu Apr 2 4:05pm – Fri Apr 3, 2026 12:40am (EDT)
Your flight from FRA to IST Fri Apr 3, 2026 2:50am – 5:55am (EDT)

That time table doesn't make sense. It looks like your connection and arrival times are US time (EDT) rather than local time. A flight leaving Atlanta at 4 pm won't arrive in Frankfurt at 12:40 am Frankfurt time. It will arrive at 6:40 am local time. Then your 2:50 am connection is actually an 8:50 am departure from Frankfurt local time. Typically 8 hours difference between US and Istanbul. So your 5:55 am (EDT) arrival in IST is actually 1:55 pm local time. You must use local time for any arrival or departure.

Looking at the Lufthansa site for Apr 2 ATL -FRA- IST I see a 355 PM departure from ATL.

There are 2 options for onward to IST fro FRA. One option has an arrival at IST at 1 PM on Apr 3. A later connection arrives at 455PM. ( all times local)

Is the 1120 AM Turkish Air departure from IST you are looking at on the 3rd or 4th?

If the Turkish flight you are looking at is on the 3rd, you arrive AFTER either option you note has departed.