The Sabiha Gökçen International Airport is the second airport serving Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey, and is located on the Asian side of the city. The airport opened in 2006 to ease congestion at Ataturk Airport but due to the success of Turkish Airlines the new airport was already operating at its maximum capacity of 25 million passengers in ten year; jumping from nothing to 12th busiest airport in Europe. The airport is named after the first female combat pilot, and adoptive daughter of Ataturk.
Most flights from Sabiha Gökcen International Airport are to Ankara and to Amsterdam but there are many more flights to other destinations as well, most of them by Pegasus Airlines. Every day there are flights to 20 destinations from Sabiha Gökcen International Airport. Here are the most popular destinations:
Sabiha Gökçen has one terminal and one runway making it the busiest single-runway airport in the world (after London Gatwick). It has received several awards including World's Best Airport in 2010.
Be aware that when you arrive at the airport the security screening is done before check-in, so be sure to be on time otherwise check-in will be closed already.
Sabiha Gökçen International Airport is located 40 km southeast of central Istanbul, on the Asian side.
The airport does not have a metro or railway station yet but both are planned for. Until then you would need to take a shuttle bus to the closest metro station (10 km away) or train station (14 km away).
The Havatas bus connection Sabiha Gökçen to Taksim Square in central Istanbul. Tickets costs TRY 14 and takes 1,5 to 2 hours. Bus E10 or E11 are cheaper and can take you to Kadiköy for TRY 7 from where you can take a ferry to the European side.
See for tickets and schedule: buses: havabus.com .
A taxi can cost TRY 100 in the day (bit less at night) and if lucky can take you in an hour to Taksim Square.
All prices quoted here were found in June 2017
