Istanbul Airport Transfer – Sabiha Gokcen Airport (SAW)

Istanbul Airport Transfer: From Sabiha Gokcen to Istanbul:

Sabiha Gokcen Airport by Gnesener1900/Wiki

Sabiha Gocken Airport (SAW) is the second of Istanbul’s two international airports. It is named after Ms Sabiha Gökçen, the first Turkish female combat pilot and also the world’s first female fighter pilot.

Sabiha Gocken Airport is located in the Pendik/Kurtköy region, on the Anatolian side of the Bosphorus, about 35 km southeast of the centre of Istanbul. When it was built, Sahiba Gokcen’s international terminal catered for 3 million passengers. With its expansion in 2009, this very modern and large airport now handles 11 million passengers and the plan is to expand traffic to 25 million passengers by 2023.

There are over thirty low-cost airlines landing at Sabiha Gokcen, including carriers like Transavia, German Wings, Spanair, EasyJet, Pegasus, Wizzair and more.

Transport from Sabiha Gokcen to Istanbul

SAW is about 35 kms from the centre of Istanbul and there are several transport options from this Istanbul airport.

By Shuttle Bus

The Havas shuttle bus service can be found on exiting the main terminal building. This non-stop shuttle is a convenient service to get to Taksim Square and the fare is cheap (TL 18 per person). The shuttles from SAW to Taksim run every 30 minutes from 05:00 to midnight, after which there are shuttle buses to meet each aircraft landing. Travel time to Taksim Square is about an hour, but it very much depends on the traffic. The Havas shuttle also connects SAW Airport with Istanbul Atatürk Airport.

Note: As of January 14, 2012, Havas shuttle bus has been ordered to cease operations on this airport run and were replaced by the Havatas shuttle bus run by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Havas have taken taken out a law suit against the Municipality and the matter is still with the courts. Until that legal challenge is sorted out, Havataş is the airport bus service. See their service schedule here.

Private Transfers

There are many other companies that provide private transfer services from SAW to Istanbul and the general rate is about Euro 50 per car.

Hotel Transfers

Many of the international hotels do offer a transfer service from the airport to their hotel.  They are no more expensive than a taxi fare, but your journey is sure to be more comfortable.

Hotel Shuttle Service

When we were at SAW we saw a Hotel Shuttle booth just in front of the Customs exit area.  The person manning the desk offered to transfer us to our hotel at Euro 15 per person or Euro 25 for two people.  If you have not pre-arranged a transfer, this is an option.

By Taxi

The taxi stands are well signposted and you’ll see them as you come out of the Customs area. Taxis fares to the city can be expensive and you can encounter problems with drivers not turning on the meters or taking a longer route to your destination.

By Car

The main airport complex is easily reachable by car from the E80 (Trans-European Motorway)

By Train

There is no rail link to Sabiha Gokcen Airport.

Address:
Sabiha Gokcen International Airport
34912 Pendik
Istanbul, Turkey
Website: www.sgairport.com
Tel : + 90 216 585 50 00

Click here to get a free PDF of this post