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BA's move from Ataturk to the new Istanbul airport

BA's move from Ataturk to the new Istanbul airport

Old Dec 19, 2018, 4:34 am
  #106  
 
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Originally Posted by IAN-UK
I'm sure you are right ... but what is the money angle you refer to?

The BA top brass at IST had something of a reputation - but I'd have thought they'd have been happy as Larry to get rid of the laptop rigmarole: so I'm surprised they didn't do just that as soon as possible. I'd assumed it was somehow down to extreme caution, notwithstanding the formal guidelines promulgated by UK authorities
The UK government allowed electronics in hand luggage again IF a certain percentage of hand bags and their contents were screened for explosive residue at the gate before boarding. To do this it required additional security staff and equipment at the gate that BA were unwilling to pay to be provided.
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Old Dec 26, 2018, 11:59 pm
  #107  
 
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Originally Posted by hfly
Sounds like I did know, huh?

In English .


https://www.airlive.net/breaking-the...il-march-2019/

Freight is only a small of it. There are many other issues
Flew into Istanbul last night, due fly back 3 Jan. As I'd seen both the BA website announcing the change to ISL on 1st Jan as well as the various news reports on the 31 Jan switch, yet my booking said depart from IST Ataturk, I asked at BA lounge in T5. Took a series of phone calls for them to come up with the answer "we suspect the switch has been delayed but we can't find out for sure. Wouldn't it at least be nice if BA sent a text message to passengers telling them which airport they will fly out from?". The two staff at the info desk in Galleries lounge were quite curious and bemused. Like, "shouldn't we have a clear answer on this". They advised me to ask again when I landed in Istanbul. On the flight I was seated next to a positioning pilot. Luckily he had heard of the delay til March. More practically he said he flew over ISL a few days back and it obviously wasn't operational.

wouldn't it be nice if BA sent a text
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Old Dec 27, 2018, 3:04 am
  #108  
 
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Originally Posted by Airprox
The UK government allowed electronics in hand luggage again IF a certain percentage of hand bags and their contents were screened for explosive residue at the gate before boarding. To do this it required additional security staff and equipment at the gate that BA were unwilling to pay to be provided.
That is also what I was told, but it makes little sense as BA had to employ the same number of staff to search 100% off all carry on bags for electronic devices.
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Old Dec 27, 2018, 3:30 am
  #109  
 
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Originally Posted by convair
More practically he said he flew over ISL a few days back and it obviously wasnt operational
Odd thing for the pilot to say as the new airport is operational. That isnt the issue!
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Old Dec 29, 2018, 4:54 pm
  #110  
 
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To me the fact that there will be no way to get to city other than by bus/taxi/limo is a huge issue... they advertise it like the next wonder of the world with 90mil pax going to 150mil... and yet no metro until 2020 at best and buses and taxis takes arriving passengers only to the city? Sounds like a big gridlock ending in a transport collapse....
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Old Dec 29, 2018, 4:57 pm
  #111  
 
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By the way, I, for one, plainly scared of their yellow taxis having been in near collision trips on 2 occasions. Since then every time I travel to IST I used either a preordered transfer (cars and drivers are a bit better, but pricier) or more often use their metro system
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Old Dec 30, 2018, 1:34 am
  #112  
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Originally Posted by tenn_ace
To me the fact that there will be no way to get to city other than by bus/taxi/limo is a huge issue..l... and yet no metro until 2020 at best and buses and taxis takes arriving passengers only to the city?
Puzzled why you should find it a huge issue. I can think of a number of airports with no rail/underground access, and with only very clunky versions of non-road access, and many more that came on tap before being linked to rail systems.

Given the airport is unlikely to open fully until (at least) mid-2019, a 2020 opening of the metro link wouldn't be too long to wait.....

... unless that, too, were delayed
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Old Dec 30, 2018, 2:40 am
  #113  
 
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Originally Posted by IAN-UK
Puzzled why you should find it a huge issue. I can think of a number of airports with no rail/underground access, and with only very clunky versions of non-road access, and many more that came on tap before being linked to rail systems.

Given the airport is unlikely to open fully until (at least) mid-2019, a 2020 opening of the metro link wouldn't be too long to wait.....

... unless that, too, were delayed
Probably because of the extraordinary traffic in Istanbul; honestly, London is a motorway compared to the E5. Over 2 hours for a journey of less than 20 miles into the city centre is not unusual, which is why many use the underground from the airport.
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Old Dec 30, 2018, 3:56 am
  #114  
 
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Yes, if youve ever arrived at the current IST by road youd wonder how the new place will function given its remote location and temporary lack of public transport. However, a brand new and empty motorway link is one of the few things the new airport can boast as completed, so traffic isnt an issue (even if journey times are). Id be more concerned at the reports of poor flood drainage on site and the quality of the construction given the (often deadly) pressure placed on the workers to finish.
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Old Dec 30, 2018, 4:11 am
  #115  
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Ive seen photos of flooding at the new airport. There were pictures of buses with water up to the roofs. I have no idea whether this is all over-exaggeration or otherwise. A friend said that scientists had warned of this. Again I have no idea if this is true or not, but it is not exactly impossible that BA have no clue is that no one has a clue? Shades of Berlin- Brandt?
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Old Dec 30, 2018, 4:37 am
  #116  
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Originally Posted by Row9
Probably because of the extraordinary traffic in Istanbul; honestly, London is a motorway compared to the E5. Over 2 hours for a journey of less than 20 miles into the city centre is not unusual, which is why many use the underground from the airport.
OK, but the new airport is in an unloved region i've (admittedly) never set foot in. I assumed the new road system north of the city will cope better than the existing congested links to the current airport. My understanding from friends who've been using ISL for Ankara flights is the current public transport route is metro to Sisli then an airport bus. Doesn't sound much fun, but neither is my route by metro through the Yenikapi hub to IST.

Of course things would be/will be better if the new metro line were up and running (better still if ISL were also up and running ), but probably better not to wait for the metro to catch up before opening the darn thing. There again, who knows - the metro might get there first ....
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 7:31 am
  #117  
 
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Originally Posted by Row9
Probably because of the extraordinary traffic in Istanbul; honestly, London is a motorway compared to the E5. Over 2 hours for a journey of less than 20 miles into the city centre is not unusual, which is why many use the underground from the airport.
Exactly. Unless one visited Istanbul on a few occasions and had to get to the airport (or from) on a working day, they could hardly understand how bad it could get. LITERALLY, a parking lot on a motor way.
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 7:50 am
  #118  
 
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Originally Posted by IAN-UK
Puzzled why you should find it a huge issue. I can think of a number of airports with no rail/underground access, and with only very clunky versions of non-road access, and many more that came on tap before being linked to rail systems.

Given the airport is unlikely to open fully until (at least) mid-2019, a 2020 opening of the metro link wouldn't be too long to wait.....

... unless that, too, were delayed
Atatrk airport currently depends heavily on rail access, so either you need more than the current level of road access to the new airport and road access to where people are going, or you also need a rail connection. Since neither is being provided, transportation to and from the new airport is not likely to work well.

Other airports may not have rail links, but they never had rail links so the roads are sufficient to connect the airport (and people have developed ways to deal with the problems). Atatrk being replaced by the new airport now would be effectively removing a rail link, and that is the problem.
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Old Dec 31, 2018, 9:21 am
  #119  
 
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I, for once, am glad that Atatrk will live on for a little longer. I still haven't done an arrival into town with the ferry from Barkiky, more time to try and do it!
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Old Jan 17, 2019, 9:05 am
  #120  
 
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New Istanbul Airport

It finally appears a date has been set for Operations to commence at the new Istanbul Airport. NOTE Nothing official from BA regarding the move as yet and this info has only been released by the Turkish state today.

1) Airport Transfer Process (45 hours) from LTBA to LTFM
The transfer period from Istanbul Atatrk Airport (LTBA) to Istanbul Airport (LTFM) will commence at 01 March 2019 00:00 UTC and end at 02 March 2019 21:00 UTC (See Airport Transfer Chart).
During the transfer period (45 hours); Istanbul Atatrk Airport (LTBA) and Istanbul Airport (LTFM) will only be available for base carriers’ flights and both Istanbul Atatrk Airport (LTBA) and Istanbul Airport (LTFM) will be operating with a common reduced capacity per hour as stated below:
- LTBA and LTFM common 35 arrivals per hour,
- LTBA and LTFM common 35 departures per hour,
- LTBA and LTFM arrival/departure total common capacity per hour 70 will be applied.
(See Airport Transfer Chart Note 2).

2) Use of Istanbul Atatrk Airport (LTBA) After 02 March 2019 21:00 UTC
As from 02 March 2019 21:00 UTC, LTBA will be closed to scheduled/unscheduled domestic and international commercial passenger flights and will only be available for cargo, maintenance/technical, general aviation, air taxi, business flights, for state aircraft and other flights permitted by Authority.
so from March 3rd latest it appears all ops are from the new facility.
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