This has been discussed before but looking for recent and specific experience. We are flying Turkish Airlines San Francisco to Athens via Istanbul one ticket. We only have 90 minutes connection in Istanbul to connect to the flight to Athens. We are in our mid 70’s, in good shape will have our rollaboards and personal bags. A recent experience sprinting through another large airport was very uncomfortable leaving us in a sweat and unhappy. I see that IGA has some services for people over 65 but can’t find that they will meet you at the gate, drive you through security, get you to your next gate. It looks like we can take fast track through security then get a buggy in the departure area. But, watching You Tube videos I’m impressed even with that how long the walks are and with this tight connection we will be stressed. There are commercial services which will provide exactly what I want for about 360 Euros per person (!). Has anyone faced this and found a better solution? And I know Turkish Airlines will get us to Athens if we miss the flight but I’d rather make our connection and not have to endure a marathon sprint after a 12 hour + flight.
Posted by
Salem, Oregon, USA
3305 posts
I assume you mean Istanbul Havalimani Airport (airport code is IST)? There was some conversation about this topic in another thread, you might contact the OP to see what they decided to arrange for their flights. It may be you need to contact Turkish Airlines directly https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/turkey/older-women-with-limited-time-in-istanbul
From the Turkish Airlines FAQ on transfers:
Our transfer passengers, coming from an international point and
continuing to an international destination with Turkish Airlines,
whose flight routes are arranged with a single ticket*Disembark from the aircraft with your cabin baggage only and continue
directly to the boarding gate without conducting any flight or
passport procedures. If you have not obtained a boarding pass for a
flight you will continue to at the first exit point, go to the
“Transit Check-in” counter firstly.
*Including passengers whose routes are arranged with a single ticket with Star Alliance member airlines or airlines having a codeshare
flight agreement with Turkish Airlines.
I read this to mean you're not going to go through security, you just need to move onward to your next gate, but someone will correct me if that is wrong. The quote is for a transfer that is all one one ticket, there are other sections of the FAQ (linked above) for other scenarios. Plenty of people in the forum have made a transfer with that amount of time or less (like Mr. E) and I assume they'll weigh in. I would also look at the general timeliness of the SFO-IST flight, as some of their west coast offerings (Seattle) are perpetually late. Also look at current arrivals/departures for your future flight numbers so you can get a feel for how far you'd have to walk.
Posted by
Wengen
3261 posts
I have been through that airport. You normally disembark on the arrival level, and to get to departures you need to pass through security again. But they have special short cuts you can take if you have a short connection. These have their own security, and are signposted as such. So just follow the signs.
Turkish Airlines, and Istanbul airport want this airport to become a major hub, so they want those connections to work. Have a good trip.
Note that even though the airport is big the worst case longest walk is 30 minutes, still below the 90 minutes you have. And you will probably not have to walk that long.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
7162 posts
I fly through IST about once a year these days. Here's some info/thoughts I can share...
Yes, the airport is vast and distances between gates can be (or may not be) long. It's an airport where one often gets to stretch their legs (not an entirely bad thing after a long flight). Having done transfers there a few times, I'd say what you're trying to do is possible, but how easy or nerve-wracking it will be depends on many factors, some of which may be difficult or impossible to predict accurately. A lot fall into the "it depends" category. Examples include:
- Is your incoming flight on time? Impossible to know, but as mentioned above, some flights are chronically late.
- Is your onward flight on time? If your inbound flight is late, and your onward flight is also late, it can be a wash (or it can save your bacon). OTOH if your inbound flight is very late but your onward flight is only a little late, look out.
- What gates are your flights using?
- Where are you seated on the plane for the inbound flight? If you're seated near the door, and you get out quickly it can make a big difference. If you're seated way in the back of a big plane and you're among the last off, it can add to your troubles.
- Taxi time - the airport surface features (runways, taxiways, ramps) are huge, too, and you may spend a lot of time between landing and reaching your gate. This will depend on things like wind direction and how busy the airport is when your flight lands.
One thing you didn't specify: what time does your inbound flight arrive in IST? Look that up. Then look up how frequent TK has service from IST to Athens on your arrival date; the internet says TK flies IST-ATH from 4-7 times daily, but what matters is how many flights they have after your inbound flight arrives on the day you will be there. If they have additional flights just an hour or a few hours after yours, then you have little to worry about. OTOH if your flight to Athens is the last of the day, then the stakes are higher.
I would check this before doing anything else - if there are several more flights, and they'll get you to Athens just a few hours later, you can probably relax and stop worrying (although it depends on what your plans are for what you do upon arrival in Athens...hopefully you have nothing scheduled upon arrival in Athens that's time-critical).