BA's move from Ataturk to the new Istanbul airport
Apr 6, 2019, 2:16 am
#166
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Anglesey
Programs: British Airways Gold, Avios U.K. IHG diamond, Hilton Diamomd
Posts: 102
Looks like it’s not going to plan. From the guardian web site...
”Originally, every airline at Atatürk was supposed to move this weekend, but authorities eventually decided to limit it to Turkish Airlines,”
funny I had an email from BA yesterday telling me I would be going to the new airport next week. It seems not.
”Originally, every airline at Atatürk was supposed to move this weekend, but authorities eventually decided to limit it to Turkish Airlines,”
funny I had an email from BA yesterday telling me I would be going to the new airport next week. It seems not.
Apr 6, 2019, 2:23 am
#167
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SE1, London
Posts: 23,447
Having spent a fair bit of time at Ataturk over the years, part of me hopes BA are still there for the Easter weekend so I can say goodbye. Realise you are getting old when an airport terminal you can remember as new is now closing. ��
Last edited by Swanhunter; Apr 6, 2019 at 2:29 am
Apr 6, 2019, 6:10 am
#168
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
Atatürk Airport is already closed for passenger flights. Alongside with all airlines which operated from Atatürk Airport, BA would operate their flights from Istanbul Airport starting from today.
Apr 6, 2019, 11:13 am
#169
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Executive Club - Silver (OWS)
Posts: 768
The new DLM terminal opened last summer so BA have already operated to/from it.
Apr 6, 2019, 11:17 am
#170
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
Yes, speedbird676 is true; as far as I know, similar to Mykonos, British Airways didn't contract the only lounge at the airport ( last year ), so it could be the same this year so I would suggest those Club Europe, Exec Bronze, Silver and Gold ( OWR, OWS and OWE ) pax on BA flights to arrive 1h15min-1h30min before departure. Just be aware that online check-in for BA flights from DLM was not available last year as well. Also this route is not elite heavy.
Apr 6, 2019, 11:25 am
#171
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Executive Club - Silver (OWS)
Posts: 768
Looks like it’s not going to plan. From the guardian web site...
”Originally, every airline at Atatürk was supposed to move this weekend, but authorities eventually decided to limit it to Turkish Airlines,”
funny I had an email from BA yesterday telling me I would be going to the new airport next week. It seems not.
”Originally, every airline at Atatürk was supposed to move this weekend, but authorities eventually decided to limit it to Turkish Airlines,”
funny I had an email from BA yesterday telling me I would be going to the new airport next week. It seems not.
Apr 6, 2019, 11:28 am
#172
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
Looks like it’s not going to plan. From the guardian web site...
”Originally, every airline at Atatürk was supposed to move this weekend, but authorities eventually decided to limit it to Turkish Airlines,”
funny I had an email from BA yesterday telling me I would be going to the new airport next week. It seems not.
”Originally, every airline at Atatürk was supposed to move this weekend, but authorities eventually decided to limit it to Turkish Airlines,”
funny I had an email from BA yesterday telling me I would be going to the new airport next week. It seems not.
Apr 6, 2019, 12:02 pm
#173
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jan 2009
Programs: Battleaxe Alliance
Posts: 22,127
There is still a lot going on at the terminal as there were still bare walls onto which they were putting on some cladding.
Apr 7, 2019, 4:13 am
#174
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Executive Club - Silver (OWS)
Posts: 768
It opened but a lot of the finish was very bad. I’m not surprised there is still work going on. I flew through it in September, October and December.
I probably wouldn’t have opened it in the state it was in!
I probably wouldn’t have opened it in the state it was in!
Apr 13, 2019, 2:29 pm
#175
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: LHR/ATH
Programs: Amex Platinum, LH SEN (Gold), BA Bronze
Posts: 4,489
Has anyone flown to IST yet? Things look really good so far despite all the doomsday predictions!
what a beast of an airport and even with 2 partielle runways a lot of capacity for ops from the go as it’s a 24/7 airport.
Apr 13, 2019, 2:31 pm
#176
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
I have flown 10 times from Istanbul Airport and 8 times to Istanbul Airport since the opening date. Nothing bad currently as the predictions made beforehand. Everything is OK for the moment.
Apr 14, 2019, 6:33 am
#177
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 92
The new IST seems to be functioning ok, although transferring can be a nightmare, with angry and stressed staff. 30-45min taxi seems to be normal, so are remote (and hanger!) stands. TK rudeness aside, my main issue with the new airport is how cheap it looks. A lot of the furniture/facilities seem to have been transferred from Ataturk and are in a poor state. Floors are dirty, escalators look rotten, some signage leads to nowhere. Restaurant areas are crammed. Probably the cheapest looking new terminal I’ve seen, I’d put it on par with DXB. Reminds me of LTN in many aspects. Appropriate match for TK’s product though.
Apr 14, 2019, 2:48 pm
#180
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London
Programs: Hilton, IHG - BA, GA, LH, QR, SV, TK
Posts: 17,008
Be interested to hear what upset you about TK service.
If it's the airline's customer service via email or phone, I understand completely!
But for the rest, it's Just Another Airline - but with some nice extra touches