HollywoodBQ said:
Anybody been to Istanbul in 2017?
Safe enough to change planes there with a 5 hour layover?
About the Istanbul airport: I've been in and out of it into the city a few times. The location at the airport where the attack happened a few years ago is exactly the place where I thought, "this is a really vulnerable location."
Just to get inside the door at the airport, everyone has to go through a metal detector and every bag has to be x-rayed. There is a big atrium where people have to wait in long lines for this process. That is where the attack happened and that is where I always have my head on a swivel when going through Ataturk airport.
Once you're past that checkpoint, the facility is actually really nice. The Istanbul Turkish airlines lounge is the greatest thing EVER. We scheduled an extended layover on an inbound segment once just so we could use the napping and shower facilities. Wife and I proceeded to wake up, get cleaned up, eat, and then have drinks and shoot pool while we waited for our next flight.
One other great feature if you're business class: there is a passport control line that leads directly into the Turkish Airlines lounge. Line is always really short (unlike the
hoi polloi line, which is always incredibly long and made worse by the throngs of families headed east laden with carts fill of saran wrapped suitcases.
You're golden since you don't have to leave the airport. Just find the Turkish Airlines lounge and enjoy the best layover of your life.