Flight connections at Sabiha Gokcen International Airport - Istanbul, Turkey
Sabiha Gokcen International airport (IATA airport code: SAW) is one of the two airports serving Istanbul, the biggest city in Turkey. It is located on the Asian side of the city. See the exact location of the airport on Google maps here.
Sabiha Gokcen airport from the apron. Source: Wikipedia
Sabiha Gokcen Airport is a hub for Pegasus Airlines and Ajet (Anadolu jet) - both being Turkish low fare regional airlines. It offers great value for money connections from European cities to destinations in the Middle East and to any commercial airport within Turkey.
Sabiha Gokcen Airport serves over 37 million passengers annually, half of which on domestic routes. Both the international and domestic are served out of the same terminal building, which facilitates connecting flights from domestic to international or vice versa.
Since the airport serves so many domestic flights, it is reported that a big part of the ground staff doesn’t speak foreign languages, which may pose some challenges if you need to ask for assistance. Once you disembark, follow the signs for transfer flights. In case you are flying on one ticket (PNR), you don’t need to leave the transit area. All arriving transit passengers need to pass thru security check and those transferring from international to domestic flights (or vice versa) need to pass thru the passport control desks as well.
Beware that if you are flying on separate tickets with baggage and your baggage is not checked in to the next destination, you will need to exit to the baggage collection hall and proceed to departures again. In that situation, bear in mind that Sabiha Gocken airport is often overcrowded and two hours may not be enough to pass through check in, security check and immigration.
You can check the terminal maps of the airport on their official site here.
Free wifi internet limit within the transit area is only 30 minutes. Prices in the airport cafes and restaurants are above average compared to other International airports. The airside area features famous international brands like Burger King, McDonalds, Subway, Starbucks along with Turkish brands like Popeyes, Usta Donerci, Simit Sarayi and others. The domestic part of the terminal also features Domino's pizza and KFC.
During peak hours the terminal area is overcrowded and it is difficult to find available seats.
Overnight connections
In case of overnight connections our recommendation is to book a room at a nearby hotel. The closest available accommodation is the Sabiha Gokcen Airport Hotel, located in the airport premises. After you exit the terminal, you can catch a shuttle, which takes less than 5 minutes. A number of nice hotels are located within a 10-15 minutes ride from the airport, for example Nearport hotel. You can conveniently check and book hotels near Sabiha Gocken airport from this link.