Istanbul Airport Transfers

Istanbul Airport (IST) opened in 2018 and took over all scheduled passenger flights from Atatürk Airport in April 2019. It sits in Arnavutköy, north of the city near the Black Sea coast, and handled about 84.5 million passengers in 2025. Almost every trip into Istanbul from here is a drive of 40 to 55 km.

We run fixed-price transfers to Sultanahmet, the historic peninsula with Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, and quote any address in the city: Taksim and Beyoğlu, Karaköy and the Galataport cruise terminal, the business towers of Levent, and the Asian side. Your driver meets you at the arrivals exit, loads the luggage once and takes whichever road is moving better on the day, the Northern Marmara Motorway or the D-020.

Flying on within Turkey? Domestic flights from Istanbul reach Antalya, Bodrum and Dalaman, where we also meet arrivals.

Istanbul Airport has one very large terminal, with separate arrivals exits for international and domestic flights. After passport control, baggage reclaim and customs, walk out into the arrivals hall, where your driver waits holding a sign with your name. The car is parked in the airport's multi-storey car park, a short walk away. Havaist coaches leave from the transport floor below arrivals, and the M11 metro station is linked to the terminal.

• Levent business district: 40–75 minutes
• Taksim Square: 45–80 minutes
• Beşiktaş: 45–80 minutes
• Karaköy and the Galataport cruise terminal: 45–85 minutes
• Sultanahmet and the old city: 50–90 minutes
• Kadıköy, on the Asian side: 55–100 minutes
• Sabiha Gökçen Airport: 1 hour 10 minutes – 2 hours

Istanbul has two international airports. Istanbul Airport (IST) is on the European side, north of the city. Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) is on the Asian side, about 41 km from Sultanahmet by road and more than 90 km from Istanbul Airport. Check the code on your ticket before you book. We quote transfers from both airports, and between them for passengers changing airports.