Istanbul Airport IST
Cheap flights from Istanbul Airport start with one decision: which airport your ticket actually leaves from. Istanbul has a second airport, Sabiha Gokcen, and the two are not interchangeable, so check both before you commit. The routes searched most from here are Izmir, Ankara, Antalya, Dalaman, Kayseri, Athens, Budapest and Iasi. Fares shift with the season and the day you fly, so check the dated fares and price calendar before you book.
Istanbul Airport at a glance
- Passengers per year
- 84.5 M (2025)
- Hub for
- Turkish Airlines
- Elevation
- 99 m
- Opened
- 2018
- Official website
- igairport.aero
- Population of Istanbul
- 15.7 M (2023)
Country facts: Wikidata
Getting to the city
Plan the transfer before you land, not at the kerb. First confirm which airport your booking uses, because Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gokcen are separate airports and a transfer arranged for one will not help at the other. Give yourself a generous buffer between landing and whatever comes next, and treat the arrival time on your ticket as a guess rather than a promise. Bags and passport control take longer at busy periods, so avoid tight connections and late-night dashes. Keep your phone charged and your booking details handy.