Exterior with hideous and sad landscaping



Future Check-in row



Domestic departures security queue: empty!



Cafe- landside



Photo kiosk!

Report: Part One - Landside

Two of us arrived in a friend's car, and the drive from urban Istanbul at rush hour was rather surreal: this is a very rural area. As you approach the airport you are struck by how many construction vehicles there are surrounding this mostly unfinished facility. The entrance is rather depressing and brutalist; the planted trees and grass and vegetation look like they are on life support and the design around the car parks is really dreadful (first photo).

Entering the airport you'll go through the customary initial X-ray as in other Turkish airports. There are many many check-in rows and machines, and a handful of rows are presently staffed for the 4 daily flights (Baku hasn't started yet).

The departure monitor is amusing: three flights on the domestic monitor (second photo) spaced roughly two hours apart.

The Ankara flight leaves in about an hour, and after the initial rush to get those passengers through it's quiet now (third photo).

There is a kiosk where you can dress up in pilot's caps, goggles, and get your photo taken for free (fourth photo). They email you a video of your "scene" as well.

One cafe landside is open; we had tea and espresso. They've got baked goods and sandwiches as well (fifth photo).

They clearly have a tremendous amount of construction work left to do: exposed wiring is everywhere; lots of unsealed joints, holes in drywall, and rather average-to-shoddy construction materials mean a lot of subsequent patching and repair work will be necessary. On the other hand, Berlin-Brandenburg (BER) likely will never open and yet this airport is now open for business. So there is that. Second report airside to follow.