Cheap flights from Glasgow to Istanbul

November is the cheapest month for this route, and the gap between it and the summer weeks is usually wide. Fares climb through the Scottish school holidays and stay high across the Turkish holiday season, when Istanbul fills with visitors. Spring and autumn sit in the middle: decent weather, moderate demand, easier seats. If you can be flexible, fly out midweek and come back midweek too, and book a few weeks ahead rather than months. Watch the calendar around Christmas and New Year, when both cities travel heavily, and around Turkish public holidays, which move each year.

No airline flies Glasgow to Istanbul non-stop, so every ticket here is a connection through a European hub. Easyjet, Jet2 and Sun Express are the low-cost names on the route: hand baggage only, with seats and checked bags as paid extras. British Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Lufthansa are the full-service options, where a checked bag is normally part of the fare. KLM Cityhopper, BA CityFlyer and Emerald Airlines fly the smaller regional legs that feed those connections, and Aer Lingus routes some itineraries through Dublin. Check whether both legs sit on one ticket, because with separate bookings you recheck your bags and carry the risk of a missed connection.

Istanbul has two airports, and your ticket decides which one you land at. Istanbul Airport sits on the European side, well outside the city, and takes most of the full-service traffic. Sabiha Gokcen is on the Asian side, across the Bosphorus, and is the usual landing point for low-cost and leisure flights. Both are a long ride from the centre, so treat the landing as the start of the journey, not the end. Metro lines, airport buses and taxis serve each. If your plans sit on the European side, Istanbul Airport is simpler; for the Asian districts, Sabiha Gokcen saves you the crossing. Check the airport code on your ticket before you arrange ground transport.

Currency

TRY (₺)

Power sockets

Type C, F · 230 V

Language

Turkish

Emergency number

112, 177

Driving side

right

Calling code

+36

Internet domain

.tr

Population of Istanbul

15.7 M (2023)

Time zone

UTC+03 (Europe/Istanbul)

Country facts: Wikidata

• Check which Istanbul airport your ticket uses, because Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gokcen sit on opposite sides of the city.
• Confirm whether your connection is on one ticket or two, since separate bookings mean rechecking bags and no protection if the first leg runs late.
• Look at the baggage rules on low-cost fares from Easyjet, Jet2 and Sun Express, where a cabin bag may be all that is included.
• Check passport and visa requirements for Turkey before you pay, and make sure your passport has enough validity left.
• Try November first if price matters most, and compare the whole journey rather than the first leg.