Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (IATA: SAW, ICAO: LTFJ) is the 2nd Airport in Istanbul and was opened on 8th of January 2001. It became first privately operated airport of Turkey and Anatolian side of Istanbul, Mainly Low-cost carriers using home base & operates from this airport.
Sabiha Gökçen Airport is a hub for Pegasus Airlines, Turkish Airlines and Anadolujet. Sunexpress also operates a lot of domestic routes. Apart from these Airlines the traffic consists out of some rare exotic airlines and aircraft which cannot be seen in Europe. All in all Sabiha Gökçen Airport handled 29.6 Million passengers last year! A big highlight in SAW are rare cargo traffics like Afriqiyah Cargo, Turkmenistan Cargo, Uzbekistan Cargo and Silk Road Cargo. Unfortunately most of these flights are not schedule, that’s why some luck is needed to catch this rare traffic.
Unfortunately SAW isn’t very “spotter friendly” (sad if you look at the traffic), but there are good points, too. For example there is just one runway so you can’t lose in “runwaypoker” like you have it in Amsterdam often. For security information please have a look at Spotting Informations, reading these can be quite important!
Written by Yiğit Çiçekci and Fabian Jürgens. Photos: Yiğit Çiçekci, Firat Çimenli, Eren Erol and Joao Gomes. Last change: May 2023 (Spot 7 added)
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Spot #1 – Demak Group – 06L Morning Arrivals |
| WHERE |
This spot is at the corner of the Cemil Meriç Street and the Yasin Sok on the opposite side of th “Demak Group” Building. There is a shop near the spotting point and the owner is very friendly. You can park your car in the Yasin Sok. |
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| WHAT |
Arrivals on runway 06L (rarely used) |
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| TIME |
Light conditions are good from sunrise till around highnoon.
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| MISC. |
Some markets can be found nearby. As you standing directly at a busy street you will attract attention from the locals so keep a low profile and stay in your car. |
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| FOCAL LENGTH |
130mm B737 and 100mm B767 |
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Spot #2 – Botas Park – 06L Arrivals Afternoon |
| WHERE |
On the Tandoğan Street inside/near to a children park. If you coming by Spot#1 the park is on your left side. You can park your car around the park. |
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| WHAT |
Arrivals on runway 06L (rarely used) |
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| TIME |
In summer light is perfect after 15:00 to sunset. |
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| MISC. |
You can relax on the grass here, so it’s not so obvious what we are doing. Take care of the security guards inside the park and local people again, park is very full if the wheater is good, The most important point is you must be careful to local people. People getting poor to understand our hobby and see suspicious who hanging around with expensive camera but the park have security guards. There can be found some little local markets around the park, but no toilets. |
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| FOCAL LENGTH |
160mm B737 and 130mm B767 |
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Spot #3 – Terminal – Ramp and taxiway |
| WHERE |
This spot is inside the international and domestic Terminal at the waiting area. It is airside so you need a boarding pass to get there. You can take the pictures through the windows from unoccupied gates. |
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| WHAT |
All activities infront of the terminal on the apron but best for taxiway photos. |
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| TIME |
Light is good from around 16:00 till sunset. |
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| MISC. |
You can find a Burger King, Starbucks and toilets here! |
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| FOCAL LENGTH |
150mm for A320 or B737 |
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Spot #4 – Kurtkoy-Orhanli – 24R Arrivals |
| WHERE |
The point is on the Kurtkoy-Orhanli Road. Turn right before you see the petrol station signboard. Parking is possible all along the road directly at the spotting location. |
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| WHAT |
All arrivals on runway 24R. |
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| TIME |
Light is good in summer until 12:00, at the winter until 16:00. |
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| MISC. |
Nothing can be found here. It’s better if you stay inside your car during waiting and hide your camera. |
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| FOCAL LENGTH |
150mm for an A320 |
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Spot #5 – Petrol Station – 24R Arrivals |
| WHERE |
Its on the Fettah Basaran Cad. You’ll see the petrol station on right side if you coming from terminal. This spot isn’t perfect, but if something special approachs, you can stop here easily, but don’t stay too long. |
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| WHAT |
Arrivals on runway 24R. |
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| TIME |
Light in the summer days is good until around noon and in the winter months till 16:00. |
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| MISC. |
There is an petrol station nearby where you can find snacks and toilets. |
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| FOCAL LENGTH |
170mm for an A320 |
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Spot #6 – Çardak Sk – 24R Arrivals |
| WHERE |
Its in the Çardak sk at the junction of Kurtkoy Orhanlı Road. You can park your car along the road but be carefully due to some heavy trucks passing by. This spot isn’t perfect, but if something special approachs, you can stop here easily, but don’t stay too long.
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| WHAT |
Arrivals on runway 24R. |
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| TIME |
Light is good in the summer only, from around 15:00 till sunset. |
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| MISC. |
There is nothing here. This spot isn’t perfect, but if something special approachs, you can stop here easily, but don’t stay long. |
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| FOCAL LENGTH |
135mm for a B737 |
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Spot #7 – Hillside – 06L arrivals |
| WHERE |
This spot is located on a hillside in a little park area. You can walk from Metro station “Fevzi Çakmak – Hastane” in about 30 minutes up the hill. During your walk you will pass a few small supermarkets where you can get some food/drink for your stay or you can try the restaurant/ cafe which is on top of the hill. The entrance of the park is on the northern part. Just follow one of the paths leading uphill. The first option is to stay right on the parking lot southeast of the restaurant. Here you can see the airport and arriving traffic for 06L. Or you walk down the stairs opposite the entrance of the restaurant. Down here you can find some benches and shade. But from here the airport is not visible anymore. You can just overlook the approach sector. The background on both spots can be very decent and you have lots of opportunities to frame the aircraft with the airport, city or port as a backdrop. |
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| WHAT |
Arrivals 06L can be photographed. Airport overview including line ups and touch downs at rwy 06L are visible and last but not least the southern part of Istanbul and some port area can be viewed. |
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| TIME |
Summer afternoons only from approx. 15:00h till sunset. Heat haze can be a problem. |
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| MISC. |
There is a surveillance camera and a little police house. But I had no problems so far. Nonetheless to have a hassle free stay, stay either between the cars and the wall on the parking lot or go down to the benches. Restaurant/ Cafe and restrooms are right on the spot. |
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| FOCAL LENGTH |
250mm for the Pegasus A321 |
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Just returned from 5 days in Istanbul, not normally a place I would consider for purely spotting, but the cancelation of the Exercise Anatolian Eagle, meant I gave it a go. Only really went to spot 7, still a nice view over the airport, but the opening of 06R means any landers are too far with the heat, even with a 600mm lens, lots of heat haze and unusable photos. With 06L no longer used for landings, i guess Spots 1 and 2 are now also no use.
AFAIK 06L is still used for landings, but no longer the primary one. So I would still keep it, even less in use.
-Julian
This is very good going March 22 as a lot changed since this was put in.