Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

Transfer time from international flight to domestic flight?

Country forums / Eastern Europe & the Caucasus / Turkey

For Istanbul international airport, is there any official minimum transfer time from an international flight to a domestic filght (departing from the international airport)?

I will transfer from Malaysia airlines to a domestic flight to Izmir. Is one and half an hour enough?

Many thanks!
Myazazel

Changing terminals involves a ten minute walk. Your biggest time problem would be your flight being late, having a crowd at passport control, and delays in getting your bags. Once you are through, you need to be at the domestic terminal at least 45 min before your flight for check in (or try doing it online).

1

If you've bought a through ticket then you should be able to check in for both flights in KL; that gives you extra time as you already have the boarding pass. Also the flight crew should know about your connection and can help you through the process.

If you've bought two tickets separately, then you probably can't even check your luggage through; you have to go through passport control and then wait for your luggage at the carousel before checking it back in again. 90 minutes is not a long time for all this, you might make it but its risky.

2

#3 is totally correct. If you can check your baggage all the way through, you'll be okay provided your flight isn't too late, if you can't, then you may well have trouble.

3

I'm with what #2 has said, although I'd also add that the queue for visas/passport control can be quite long and time consuming when changing flights in Istanbul, as you clear them (obviously) before transferring to the domestic terminal.

It might be a bit tight, but you should be able to do it. :o)

4

Last Tuesday (July 31), the Istanbul passport line was 80 minutes and the visa line was about 10 for a total of 90 minutes. Passengers on many incoming flights are bussed from the plane to the terminal so there is a delay for that (I'd guess 15 minutes). You will need the 10 mınute walk mentioned above, plus a security check (no long lines there, though) and some check-in time, as you need to be at the gate as much as a half hour before some Turkish departures to catch the bus to the plane.

The passport line is your main worry; sometimes it takes 10 minutes but often much more.

5

If there's another flight to Izmir a little later, I'd take it instead.

6