Is 1 hour enough for connecting flights in Istanbul?

Allow at least 1.5 hours for your transit. This will give you enough time to go through all of the necessary procedures and get to your boarding gate.



A 1-hour connection at Istanbul Airport (IST) is considered extremely tight and is generally not recommended unless both flights are on a single ticket with Turkish Airlines. IST is one of the largest terminal buildings in the world; walking from one end of a pier to another can easily take 20 to 30 minutes. If your first flight arrives at a "remote stand" requiring a bus transfer, or if you have to clear an additional security check for an international-to-international transfer, a 60-minute window leaves zero room for error. Most travel experts and the airline itself recommend a minimum of 90 minutes to 2 hours for a comfortable transit. While the airport features "Short Connection" buggy services and priority lanes, a slight delay in your inbound flight will almost certainly result in a missed connection. In 2026, many frequent travelers opt for at least 3 hours to enjoy the airport's massive lounge and retail facilities safely.

People Also Ask

If you will miss a connecting flight Turkish Airlines will take care of that — mostly, according to the Turkish Airlines missed flight policy, you will be offered another flight completely for free. If it is a self transfer flight (you booked flights separately) — it is your responsibility.

MORE DETAILS

Travel advisers say there's a lot to take into account when booking connecting flights, but a general rule of thumb is 60-90 minutes between domestic flights and at least two to three hours for international itineraries.

MORE DETAILS

If your itinerary was purchased as one ticket (as in: you have only one itinerary and one confirmation number), and the connection time was too short and you miss the second (or third) flight, you can rest easy, no matter what happens. The airline will simply put you onto the next available flight, free of charge.

MORE DETAILS

The recommended layover time for domestic flights is normally one hour. However, as previously stated, you may require longer if your flights are booked with two different airlines, if you are traveling to a very busy airport or if you require special assistance.

MORE DETAILS

Yes, a security check is mandatory when you take a connecting flight. This is because there is a time lag between getting off one aeroplane and getting on-board another to reach your destination.

MORE DETAILS

If you have a single ticket: Follow the signs for transit/transfer passengers. You will not need to go through customs or immigration. Proceed to the transfer desk of your connecting airline. Check in for your connecting flight and receive your boarding pass.

MORE DETAILS

What is a legal connection time? In the U.S. there's no overarching rule about minimum connection times. Airlines are free to set their own guidelines and sell connecting flight itineraries with whatever time between flights they feel is reasonable.

MORE DETAILS

What is a good connection time? Travel advisers say there's a lot to take into account when booking connecting flights, but a general rule of thumb is 60-90 minutes between domestic flights and at least two to three hours for international itineraries.

MORE DETAILS

Their 20 busiest routes during the two month period from mid-June to mid-August, had the following outcomes: 71% flights arrived on time, 14% were classed as late, 6% very late and 6% were excessively late, with zero cancellations according to FlightStats.

MORE DETAILS

Turkish Airlines is now rated as a seven-star airline for safety by the global rating agency AirlineRatings.com. Turkish Airlines' incident record over the past five years has been outstanding and has resulted in the airline's safety rating being lifted from five-star to the highest seven-star.

MORE DETAILS

How many flights were delayed today? Our latest data shows that over a 24-hour period, 0 Turkish Airlines flights were delayed 3 hours or more. Of 9 flights, 0.00% were delayed over 3 hours. That rate was 0.00% for international flights.

MORE DETAILS

While, generally, the airline won't wait for connecting passengers, there might be some exceptions. If a flight is delayed, and there are many passengers who are connecting from this delayed flight onto the same connecting flight, the airline will hold the connecting flight for these passengers.

MORE DETAILS

Most (but again, not all) airports connect international terminals airside. When you're connecting from an international flight to a domestic one, you'll always have to exit and reenter security as you'll need to go through customs and immigration (unless you have gone through preclearance aboard, which is rare).

MORE DETAILS

There is no specific rule requiring an airline to wait for late passengers. It depends on the airline and conditions. They do a cost-benefit analysis. If there are many connecting passengers, an airline will tend to wait as they will face significant costs.

MORE DETAILS

You'll get through customs in a couple of minutes (unless you are stopped for extra checks). It's immigration that can take time. If you have booked this as a single ticket and you meet the minimum connection time then the airline is responsible for getting you on the next available flight at no extra cost.

MORE DETAILS

If you're traveling on a foreign passport, it can take 50-60 minutes to get through immigration at Istanbul Airport.

MORE DETAILS

A direct flight is identified by a unique flight number. A transit flight, with a connection, has two distinct flight numbers. A flight that is not direct, or connecting flight, involves a change of aircraft.

MORE DETAILS