Welcome to Istanbul Airport… Wait, where’s my passport?
Growing Old with In Style
Time for a new airport. Even if I’m being bused around. And misplaced my passport…
In this mammoth trip report (note, headings subject to change)
- Yes. I’m that old. Next.
- Off to Heathrow, Terminal 3 and Cathay Pacific Lounge
- BA768 London Heathrow to Oslo Airport (Club Europe)
- The Best Laid Oslo Plans, and the OSL Lounge
- TK1754 Oslo Airport to Istanbul Airport (Business Class)
- Welcome to Istanbul Airport… Wait, where’s my passport?
- TK054 Istanbul Airport to Singapore Changi (Business Class)
- Welcome back to Changi and the Ibis Budget Ruby, Geylang
- Back to Changi Terminal 4 and AirAsia AK710 Singapore to Kuala Lumpur International.
- Into Kuala Lumpur and the Holiday Inn Express KLCC
- To the Batu Caves
- Exploring Kuala Lumpur
- Back to KLIA, The Golden Circle Lounge
- MH627 Kuala Lumpur to Singapore Changi (Economy Class)
- HOTEL: Intercontinental Singapore, Bugis
- For the love of Nasi Lemak and Hawker Markets
- Exploring Singapore, whilst avoiding Rain
- Glasses in a Rush
- Pokémon Centre Singapore
- Back to Changi, and the Lounge
- TK209 Singapore Changi to Istanbul Airport (Business Class)
- Into Istanbul and the Sheraton Levent, Istanbul
- Back to Istanbul Airport and the Turkish Airlines Lounge
- TK1753 Istanbul Airport to Oslo Airport
- A leisurely Oslo transit
- SK815 Oslo Airport to London Heathrow (Economy Classes)
- Homeward
- Older, Never Wiser
Exiting the Airbus A321neo into the cold of a Turkish evening, two buses were waiting for the passengers arriving from Oslo. One of the buses was for business class passengers and the other for economy class passengers.
This looked to be a good start, given that I had 1 hour and 50 minutes to make it through transit, into the terminal and towards the gate.
Down we go.
Plenty of time to make the connection, and maybe grab a drink in the lounge before I continued my journey.
I got on the minibus, thinking all was well. Delusions are great in life, aren’t they?
Then it hit me. I was missing something.
A quick panic check led to the fact that I had left my passport on the aircraft. And there was nothing I could do… I was stuck as the bus headed to the terminal.
Getting into the terminal transit area, I headed to the Turkish Airlines transit desks and sought assistance. Thankfully, the agent at the business class desk took notice and took charge of the situation, contacting the teams and chasing after where it was.
They confirmed that the aircraft was still de-boarding and the cleaning teams had yet to reach it.
And then, it was down to the ugly task of waiting.
And waiting.
Eventually, the lost and found team reported they found my passport and were bringing it to the ground arrivals and transfer point. The agent kindly escorted me through to them at the transit point.
Meeting them at the point, the passport was handed over after the paperwork was done, and my identity was confirmed.
I knew you were trouble when you walked in…
With the passport back in hand, I had 50 minutes on the clock to make it to the far E Gates. For this time, I would truly have to ride like the wind.
Or jog. Or Run. And Rush. Not a great thing if your knee is semi-damaged.
I cleared transit security quickly (as I was directed to a business class line… even though the economy line was pretty much empty).
From here it was a case of following the signs, as well as belting it through the terminal.
No time for a small room stop – gotta keep pushing.
Thus, what I caught on the phone… is what I caught on the phone. This is where an airport like Istanbul feels vast, and whilst there are travellators, there aren’t enough of them.
Into the maelstrom.
Satellites and better transfer connections are needed, especially for those on rush connections. Especially when you see the words “Flight Closing” as you pass the information displays.
It’s a motivator thats for sure.
F Gates that way. It felt far too long at this point
Running out of breath, sweat and everything, I made it to Gate F14, where there was still a reasonably sized economy class queue to move into the aircraft.
With the boarding pass on my phone zapped (as I had long lost the paper boarding pass), I was allowed to board. I had made it with time to spare, but near enough the skin of the teeth period.
Whilst 1 hour 50 should be enough to transit Istanbul Airport… try and build in more time in, especially if you’re forgetful or accident-prone.
Or unless you’re good at sprinting across concourses.
Next:
TK54 Istanbul Airport to Singapore Changi Airport. What a classic business class seat.
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Nice work on TK’s part recovering your wayward passport!
It was indeed. Put it like this – I had mostly resigned myself to having a night in the Turkish Airlines lounges, trying to get rebooked onto the next flight out.
I just wish Istanbul Airport was a little easier to transit in a rush…