Originally Posted by
writermatt
Apologies in advance if this is a dumb question: in April I have a 13 hour layover, flying MNL-IST-JFK in J. My plan was to go to the lounge, shower, leave my bags in a locker, and then go through passport control to go and visit the city. Is there a way to enter Turkey from the transit area? When I was there yesterday passport control seemed to be next to the transit security area downstairs. Will I need to go back downstairs to go through passport control?
Yes, you would need to go back downstairs and leave the departure hall in order to enter Turkey. So, you would need to;
- Clear transfer security after arrival
- Go to the lounge
- Leave the lounge when you are ready and follow signs to gate F1. Go in towards the secret door which would take you to the arrivals level.
- Clear passport control and leave the baggage claim area
When arriving back at the airport, you would take the same process as a passenger originating in IST.