World Travel Guide

City Guide  - Istanbul  - Air
Air


Istanbul Atatürk International Airport (formerly Ye?ilköy)
Tel: (212) 663 6400. Fax: (212) 663 6250.
Web site: www.dhmiata.gov.tr

Atatürk Airport is 23km (15 miles) west of central Istanbul, in Ye?ilköy. It is the main international gateway to the country and heavily congested as a result. A brand-new international terminal has recently been completed, however, with the capacity to service 14 million passengers a year. Terminal C is currently reserved for those travelling in and out of Russian Federation and CIS countries.
The new Sabiha Göksen International Airport in Pendik, Kurtköy, is scheduled to open in 2001 and will relieve some of the overload at Atatürk Airport, although it is expected to cater mainly for Russian, charter, cargo and military planes.

Major airlines:
Turkish Airlines (tel: (212) 252 1106; web site: www.thy.com) is the national airline serving international and domestic routes. Other major carriers include Air France, American Airlines, British Airways, Delta Airlines, Japanese Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, SAS, Singapore Airlines, Swissair, Thai Airlines, TWA and United Airlines.

Approximate flight times to Istanbul:
From London is 3 hours 30 minutes; from New York is 9 hours; from Toronto 10 hours and 30 minutes; from Los Angeles is 13 hours; and from Sydney is 22 hours.

Airport facilities:
These include a clinic, lost and found, banks, post office, baggage service, restaurants and snack bars, tourist information, shopping facilities, duty free, hotel reservation services, travel agencies, bureaux de change, ATMs and car hire (including Avis, Budget, Hertz, National, Sixt, Ülger and Europcar).

Business facilities:
There is a conference centre at the international terminal, with technical facilities for up to 200 delegates (tel: (212) 663 6400, ext 1225 or 663 4376).

Arrival/departure tax:
Approximately US$12, usually included in cost of ticket.

Transport to the city:
The Hava? service bus (tel: (212) 663 6363) to Aksaray and Taksim Square departs from the domestic terminal every 30 minutes 0600-2300 (journey time - 30 minnutes). Taxis (tel: (212) 574 2814 or 2884) are a little quicker but much more expensive.



Copyright © 2001 Columbus Publishing
    
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