Esenboga ESB
Cheap flights from Ankara Esenboga Airport start with one fact: this is the only airport serving the Turkish capital, so every trip to or from Ankara passes through it. Esenboga handles domestic and international traffic, linking the city with Istanbul, Antalya and Gazipasa inside Turkey and with Budapest, Warsaw, Krakow, Chisinau and Madrid beyond it. Because there is no second airport to compare, your savings come from the dates you choose, so check the price calendar before you commit.
Esenboga at a glance
- Passengers per year
- 13.9 M (2025)
- Hub for
- Olympic Air, Turkish Airlines, Ajet
- Elevation
- 3,125 m
- Opened
- 1955
- Official website
- esenbogaairport.com
- Population of Ankara
- 5.8 M (2023)
Country facts: Wikidata
Getting to the city
Esenboga sits outside Ankara, so treat the transfer as part of the journey. Buses and taxis are the usual ways into the city, and the drive takes long enough that you should not book a tight onward connection. If you land late, arrange your ride before you fly rather than sorting it out at the kerb. Ankara traffic is heaviest in the morning and evening rush, so leave a generous buffer on the way back to the airport. Ignore drivers who approach you inside the terminal and use the official rank or a pre-booked service.