Istanbul Airport is on the European side of the city and Sabiha Gökçen on the Asian. By car the journey from one terminal to the other takes 59 to 71 minutes, and it takes about that long at any hour of the day. The airport bus is scheduled at 120 minutes. Public transport takes 137 minutes one way and 142 the other.
The journey is the smaller part of a connection. Add the time it takes to get out of the first terminal and the 3 hours the second one asks for before an international flight, and by car the whole change comes to between 4 hr 44 min and 4 hr 55 min from landing to take-off.
The drive, hour by hour
| Route | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Istanbul Airport to Sabiha Gökçen | 64 | 63 | 62 | 63 | 65 | 71 | 67 | 63 | 62 | 64 | 65 | 65 | 66 | 66 | 65 | 65 | 64 | 66 | 66 | 64 | 66 | 68 | 70 | 68 |
| Sabiha Gökçen to Istanbul Airport | 62 | 60 | 59 | 59 | 59 | 59 | 62 | 62 | 61 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 65 | 65 | 65 | 64 | 63 | 63 | 65 | 65 | 64 | 65 | 64 | 63 |
Scroll sideways for the later hours.
Typical traffic on a weekday, sampled on October 4, 2026, terminal to terminal. The slowest hour on each row is highlighted. Not a live forecast.
The run between the airports goes round the city rather than through it, and the table shows what that is worth. From Istanbul Airport to Sabiha Gökçen the quickest hour is 62 minutes and the slowest 71. The other way it is 59 and 65.
That is unusual here. The drive from the city to either airport can more than double between the small hours and the evening. This one barely moves.
How much time to leave between two flights
A change of airports is three stretches of time, one after the other.
- 01Getting out of the first terminal. We allow 45 minutes from touchdown to the kerb, the same figure our booking page uses to time a pickup. It is an allowance, not a measurement: a long queue at passport control or a slow bag makes it longer.
- 02The journey to the other airport.
- 03The time the second airport asks for: 3 hours before an international departure, 2 before a domestic one.
The two tables do that sum for a landing every three hours, by car and by airport bus, and give the earliest international flight you could plan on.
| You land at | Car reaches Sabiha Gökçen | Earliest flight, by car | Next bus leaves | Earliest flight, by bus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | 01:49 | 04:49 | 01:45 | 06:45 |
| 03:00 | 04:50 | 07:50 | 04:20 | 09:20 |
| 06:00 | 07:49 | 10:49 | 07:30 | 12:30 |
| 09:00 | 10:50 | 13:50 | 10:20 | 15:20 |
| 12:00 | 13:51 | 16:51 | 13:20 | 18:20 |
| 15:00 | 16:50 | 19:50 | 16:20 | 21:20 |
| 18:00 | 19:50 | 22:50 | 19:20 | 00:20 next day |
| 21:00 | 22:55 | 01:55 next day | 22:20 | 03:20 next day |
45 minutes from touchdown to the kerb, then the journey, then 3 hours at the second terminal before an international flight. The car is the drive at that hour; the bus is the next departure once you are out.
| You land at | Car reaches Istanbul Airport | Earliest flight, by car | Next bus leaves | Earliest flight, by bus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | 01:46 | 04:46 | 01:30 | 06:30 |
| 03:00 | 04:44 | 07:44 | 04:40 | 09:40 |
| 06:00 | 07:47 | 10:47 | 07:20 | 12:20 |
| 09:00 | 10:49 | 13:49 | 10:00 | 15:00 |
| 12:00 | 13:50 | 16:50 | 13:00 | 18:00 |
| 15:00 | 16:49 | 19:49 | 16:20 | 21:20 |
| 18:00 | 19:50 | 22:50 | 19:20 | 00:20 next day |
| 21:00 | 22:50 | 01:50 next day | 22:50 | 03:50 next day |
45 minutes from touchdown to the kerb, then the journey, then 3 hours at the second terminal before an international flight. The car is the drive at that hour; the bus is the next departure once you are out.
By car the change takes between 4 hr 44 min and 4 hr 55 min from landing to an international take-off, whatever the hour. For a domestic flight it is 3 hr 44 min to 3 hr 55 min. By bus it is 5 hr 45 min to 7 hr, and the difference between those two is the wait for the next departure.
If your two flights are on separate tickets, read what each says about a missed connection before you settle on a margin.
The three ways to make the change
| By | Journey | Changes | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private transfer | 59 to 71 min | None | from €94, per vehicle |
| Airport bus HVL-11 | 120 min | None | TRY 515 per person, TRY 120 per bag |
| Metro and bus | 137 to 142 min | 2 | TRY 188 to TRY 212 per person |
By private transfer
The driver meets you in arrivals with a name board and follows your flight, so a late landing moves the pickup with it, and the waiting is free. The price is for the vehicle rather than per person, from €94, and the hour of the day does not change it. The route has its own page, with the price in every vehicle class.
By airport bus
One line, HVL-11, runs directly between the two terminals. The ride is scheduled at 120 minutes and costs TRY 515 per person, with TRY 120 for each bag.
It leaves Istanbul Airport from the bay signed Peron 13, 22 times a day, and Sabiha Gökçen 22 times a day. The longest gap between two departures is 100 minutes from Istanbul Airport and 100 from Sabiha Gökçen.
- From Istanbul Airport: 04:20, 06:00, 07:30, 08:40, 09:20, 10:20, 11:20, 12:20, 13:20, 14:20, 15:20, 16:20, 17:20, 18:20, 19:20, 20:20, 21:20, 22:20, 23:20, 00:40, 01:45, 02:45.
- From Sabiha Gökçen: 03:00, 04:40, 06:00, 07:20, 07:40, 08:20, 09:10, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:15, 16:20, 17:20, 18:20, 19:20, 20:20, 21:30, 22:50, 00:05, 01:30.
Fares and times are as the operator published them on October 4, 2026.
By metro and bus
Public transport makes the change in 137 minutes from Istanbul Airport, on lines M11, 251, and M4, and in 142 from Sabiha Gökçen, on lines M4, 34G, and M11. It means changing lines 2 times with your luggage, and costs TRY 212 one way and TRY 188 the other on an İstanbulkart.
Those figures were sampled for the middle of a weekday. They say nothing about a landing late at night.
What the figures cannot know
The drive and the public transport figures are typical for a weekday, sampled on October 4, 2026. They are not a forecast for your day. The bus figure is its timetable.
The part of the sum that varies most is the first. The drive between the airports barely changes through the day. The time it takes to get off the aircraft, through passport control and out with your bags does, and nothing on this page can measure it for you. If the second flight is one you cannot afford to miss, that is where to add your margin.
Booking the transfer
A transfer between the airports can be booked on this site up to 45 minutes before the pickup. Add the flight number and the driver follows the landing rather than the schedule.