Istanbul International Airport (IST)
reviews and complaints

I have been to Istanbul 3 times and 3 times in row the security at the British airways gate send me to the extra search area, and I am 100% confident that they do this simply because they see a British citizen with arab name.

I will challenge anyone who says the above claim is not true.

This is noway is against Turkish, it us just small amount of population who regard Arabs as security threat, and one of them is the head of istanbul security who should be ashamed of himself by employing so e Rude kids who love causing humiliation to people by rampaging in thier personal belongings in front of authers simply because the starched are Arabs descent,

I reported losing my bag with my laptop in 13 Nov at about 04h40 (probably forgotten at security on arrival on flight from CapeTown) I can see on ‘find my Apple device’ that it is at the airport near the Hugo Boss shop.

I reported it by filling up the form and received reference no. [protected]

I have not heard from anyone via phone or email and the phone number I was given gives a recorded message in Turkish and hangs up. I m desperate as among other things in the bag are important documents like my second passport etc.

Well I had rucksack bag with me and i can't find it, either I left at turkey Airport because I brought new small designer hang bag for my wife and also I had my shoe's and couple of sweatshirts in their, which is quit expensive.

I don't know how to find it, I did call lost property office on 14th Sep 2023 at Gatwick airport on [protected] & [protected] but so far no one handed anything.

11.09.2023 - Hand Bag - 495 Manat - £235.11

28.08.2023 - Shoe - £359.00

31.08.2023 - Sweet Shirts - £324.99

I was travelling today from IST International, 1st at the passport check, they took over an hour, I have bad knees and could barely stand, when I asked why it was taking so long,the staff completely ignored me, then I went through security check, the lady stated the body search, she said by sign language, go in to the cubicle, she called her assistant,they shouted and kept saying something loud, they were very intimidating and showing authority, the seemed very bad tempered and aggressive! I asked theres no need for this kind of behaviour, the one with the pony tail said shut up or i call police! I was not happy at at ll, I said to them, I am a visitor not a criminal,you wouldn't treat animals or the worst crimes like they treat visitors! Never will I got istanbul again!

Had to transit through this airport twice on July 22nd and Aug 4th, 2023. I had two small dessert silver plated forks in my carry on luggage on both dates. On July 22nd, security officer didn’t say anything about the forks in the carry on. On Aug 4th, when going through the security check to board a return flight, security demanded that I give her 2 forks. They took them forcefully and called “garbage”. This is very rude and totally unprofessional to call someone’s belongings “garbage”. These two beautiful forks are over 50 years old. They are a part of a family cutlery collection. That was a reason I didn’t put them in a luggage, as I was afraid to lose them in case luggage is lost. You can’t buy them anywhere. Calling something like this “garbage” is a complete disgrace, disrespect and ignorance. I was begging for giving me options how I could keep them as they are very meaningful to me. So many people were involved in this situation but nobody was trying to help or accommodate or provide a solution. They said forks cannot be taken on a plane for safety reasons. I suggested multiple options to resolve this including paying a fine, but they declined all the options I was giving them to save my forks. They were smiling and happy that they had a power to confiscate someone’s valuable items.

I was referred to the Police officer woman, who didn’t care and didn’t bother to help. She was the one who called my silver plated forks “garbage”. When I was talking to her, she was on the video call with her relative. When I pointed that to her, only then she hang up. This is such an unprofessional behavior. Obviously, she didn’t do anything to help to resolve this.

This situation made security guards very happy. They felt they are on top of the world for humiliating a passenger. When we were leaving, they were laughing at our backs and wishing us a good flight. I am sure, they would not dare to act that way with someone from their or similar country. They treated passengers from their country totally different.

Safety concern is a very weak argument, given that forks are allowed in carry on in many countries, including my home country. I also confirmed this with security officers, when came back home. Both dates I flew through 3 different countries and no one made this a problem. I understand that each airport has its own rules. All rules are created by people and they can be negotiated, accommodated or a solution on common grounds can be found, if willing. There is no even a common international aviation standard on this item. I said to the security, that I am flying with an airline that allow cutlery, including forks, in carry on. On a plane, my meal was served with metal knife and dining size fork! Confiscating my two small dessert forks and claiming it a safety concern was a total shame, they were not even a dining size forks! I have never been to this airport before. Never again, I return to this degrading IST airport and country.

Every single person I spoke with was rude and had no idea what they were talking about. They bounced me from place to place when all I was trying to confirm is that my baggage got transferred to my final destination. The first 3 people sent me to the wrong place. Then when I went to get my tickets from the booth, he said that my baggage wouldn’t be transferred and that I needed to get to baggage claim to get them. I tried that but the people there said I needed to go pay for 2 visas for me and my son so I could collect my bags. If that’s not a scam i don’t know what is. I paid for the visas (the man at that counter was rude as well) and then got bounced around from baggage claim to baggage claim because again, NOBODY know anything there. When I finally asked for a manager, he was also rude and said I was stupid for not knowing my bags got transferred. They told me my bags didn’t get transferred. Then the next 2 people I had to speak with because my flight wasn’t assigned a # only the letter K told me to “look at my ticket” and brushed me off. I would never travel to this country or this airport. the worst experience ever.

Hello, I forgot my phone in a plane from BKK to Istambul on 30/06/27. I travelled in first class. I immediately contacted the Lost and Found. They requested not only the description of the phone but also all passwords to open the phone.:

Dear Passenger,

We have to make password confirmation on electronic items. Positive/negative information will be provided after the necessary confirmation. We cannot give any information without providing this confirmation

Best Regards

E.OKUMUŞ

Then once the phoen has been identified they request: Your lost item has been found; the registration number is BE-[protected]

The person who is authorized to receive the lost item has to come with below required documents;

A power of attorney from notary, (Must be in English or Turkish only.)

If there is no notary in your state you have to contact with Turkish Consulate to get power of attorney. Documents received from law offices are not accepted by Customs.

Your passport photocopy,

Boarding pass or ticket printout,

Power of attorney must include the registration number and name of who will pick it up instead of you (name/surname),

Also you have to inform us about the name of the person who is authorized by you. If you don’t do that, lost item is not given.

*If he/she comes without these document, the lost item is not given.

It is impossible for a foreigner to send someone and even less to go self to the airport.

In conclusion Lost and found services are sequestering the items form the foreigners and provide no assistance and easy way to recover the lost items, while they get full access to the information contained in the phone, including private, confidential, banking, ...

I request them to send my phone to lost and found in Belgium, or to allow some from DHL to come and pick up my phone

Best regards

Philippe Clevenbergh

I was travelling with my family from Montreal to Pakistan on June 29th, and we had our layover in Turkey (IST).

We had a two hour layover but the Turkish flight was delayed so much that we only had an hour to catch flight to Pakistan however we were unable to do so as my little brother needed to use bathroom and we were a few minutes late. Due to this we missed our flight. THIS IS NOT THE PROBLEM.

Our NIGHTMARE began when we rebooked the Emirates flight from Istanbul to Pakistan, and we had 3 hours to board in that flight which was no problem for us.

We went to the Turkish airline costumer help desk (located near gate B2) to ask about our baggages and how can we get our bags to the destination.

The man told us to EXIT the airport by getting visa and collect our baggages and board them to the flight.

We told him it’s not possible for us to do this and if the staff can help us in any way? Mind you my 11 year old brother was severely ill and he had to use bathroom again and again.

The man was very rude and asked us to go to passport control. My family and I hurried towards the passport control as we knew this man won’t help us. We spoke with the hijabi women (who was on “other nationalities counter”), and asked her if she can help us.

She could not even speak a word of English and was using Google translate. She showed us her phone and it said “you need visa, there’s no other way”.

At this point I was crying and told her we can’t miss our flight and visa process will cause delays in our boarding. She did understand a word and kept showing me her phone.

I PAID to get the visa, went to the lost/claim baggages department. The man sitting there said you did not have to come here, and you could have just give your tags to the airline, and they would have taken care of it or

send them in the next flight.

We were extremely disappointed how can these people not see a family in distress and made us go through this visa/baggage process for no reason. The guy at help desk did know this I’m sure, still he chose to not tell us this and continued to be rude.

Anyway, we were running for another 40-45 minutes to get to the Emirates gate from the lost/claim baggages department.

It should be in the CCTV how my family and I was crying in fear of missing our 2nd flight, and it happened. They had closed the boarding and we reached there only when there were 52 minutes left in the departure.

My family and I had to sleep in airport, my brother was extremely uncomfortable due to his sick stomach, and badly wanted to go home.

We booked the third flight for the next day around 07:00 pm as there was no other choice.

Hi, I have already filed this complaint on 1st of June so I will copy and paste my previous statements. I have not heard anything. I will not leave this matter until we reach a solution or I'll escalate this with the national authorities.

On 01/06/2023 me, my mother and my sister were retuning to Manchester (7:40 AM flight Turkish Airline TK1993) from a 9 day trip to Istanbul. At passport security control at 6AM. Entry number 2, kiosk number 37. My mother stayed with my sister after her passport control was done because my sister suffers from excessive OCD and she wanted my mother to collect her passport from the Turkish employee after the check was done, however, without any warning, the officer behind the desk started shouting and cursing at my mother in her own native language (calling police was the only thing I gathered from her shouting along with her being angry for being closely looked at by my mother) she cursed and degraded my mother for a what seemed like 90 seconds of shouting from the top of her lungs. As I was in shock, I tried to explain the situation and persuade the officer to calm down but to no end. The whole airport was looking at us. It was humiliating and embarrassing. For an officer of such great airport of such great city to act so unprofessionally and unhinged with no warning is absolutely abysmol!

I didn't follow up on the matter as I didn't want to risk missing our flight. This horrible lady looked angry and had no common sense, no sense of care or integrity in her behaviour. If it was inappropriate for my mother to stay back for my sister to assist her, she could have gave her a warning and asked her to move but instead, she decided make a scene out of embarrassing my mother infront of everyone by shouting words in her native language and insulting us when we had no way of knowing what was the cause of the issue at the time.

Hello, my sister, for whom I purchased a ticket with Trasavia (TO3289), was denied a boarding pass and entry to the plane due to a long line at the check-in gate in Istanbul airport. She waited in line for over 40 minutes and was rejected as they closed the check-in desk right in front of her and other waiting passengers. She had preregisted with her passport information and pre-selected the seat but was still denied boarding despite showing the proof of check-in done online (all the staff had to do is check her ID to issue a boarding pass).

Aside from the poor management of check-in desks, the staff was then extremely rude (laughing, ignoring, walking away) and physically agressive to passengers including my sister, to the point of making her cry. A staff member, seemingly called Aylin, removed her badge and refused to share her full name, threatening to call the police.

In the end, several passengers including my sister were not let to board the plane for the simple reason that the line at the check-in was mismanaged and the staff refused to issue boarding passes to them after the official check-in time was over. Btw, the flight was delayed by 35 minutes.

Hello,

I am writing to report a highly rude and disrespectful incident involving a passport checker at Security Check 2, Checkpoint number 37 at Istanbul Airport on 01/06/2023 at 6 AM.

This individual shouted loudly at my family for simply staying close to each other, while there were other groups of two or three people being allowed through the passport check right next to us. We were confused as to why it was considered wrong for us to go as a family but not for others. This person continued to shout for an extended period and used very rude language towards us in Turkish. Despite complying with their instructions, the attitude displayed was completely UNACCEPTABLE. I have never experienced such behavior in my entire life. My mother was deeply hurt and began crying. This kind of savage behavior reflects poorly on the airport's customer service and Istanbul as a whole. As a country that relies on tourism for profit, one would expect excellent customer service. However, it is incredibly disappointing to see the opposite.

I have decided that I will never return to this airport unless I receive an EXPLANATION and APOLOGIES from the rude woman involved and from the company itself for employing such unprofessional and terrible staff as their representatives in customer service. I am demanding a prompt response, or I will take further steps to address this issue. I will not rest until I receive an answer and a sincere apology. I refuse to accept this kind of behavior towards my family, and I firmly believe this woman should be terminated from her position.

If you require more details to identify the person involved, please send me an email, and I will provide the best information I can.

Furthermore, please inform me of her name if possible.

I eagerly await your response.

Sincerely,

To whom it may concern,

I would like to file a complaint regarding a brutal, racist, and unprofessional behaviour at the Istanbul airport.

Firtsly, last night, at the IST, my mother's money was stolen from her, and the security did not bother at all to help her with finding her money such as checking the cameras, and etc. They did not even bother to speak English with her, and they would "respond" to her with a hostile tone while speaking Turkish. This is not acceptable. Afterall, Istanbul is a very touristic city and it is expected from the people who are working in the airport to be able to speak in English rather than speaking Turkish in a hostile way with a paasenger who doesn't know the language: This is an absoloutly racist behaviour!

My mother lost her flight to Tehran, Iran, as she was begging and dealing with the employees at the IST to do their jobs instead of being hostile and rude!

Yet, she showed up at the gate 20 minutes before her flight and they refused to let her get into the plane! If you cannot make an exception for 5 minutes delay caused by your own system and your own people working at the IST, then it is fair to say that your system, at the IST, lacks humanity.

Secondly, after my mother lost her 23:00 flight to Tehran, a staff, at the hotel Yotel Istanbul airport, SHE refused to give her a room, arguing that the rooms are full and there is no option availible, which was a massive lie! Because I have seen plenty rooms availble online myself, and also a few minutes later she would let an American group check in without a previous reservation: This is the exact definition of racisim towards Iraninans and a perpetuation of white supremacy in the most obvious way.

We are deeply disappointed and traumatized by your unacceptable system and behaviour at the IST. We would never travel to Turkey anymore. And, I, for one, would never stop speaking up about your racist and rude behaviour with us, or maybe, Iranian tourists.

Today 01/06/2023 me, my mother and my sister were retuning to Manchester (7:40 AM flight Turkish Airline TK1993) from a 9 day trip to Istanbul. At passport security control at 6AM. Entry number 2, kiosk number 37. My mother stayed with my sister after her passport control was done because my sister suffers from excessive OCD and she wanted my mother to collect her passport from the Turkish employee after the check was done, however, without any warning, the officer behind the desk started shouting and cursing at my mother in her own native language (calling police was the only thing I gathered from her shouting along with her being angry for being closely looked at by my mother) she cursed and degraded my mother for a what seemed like 90 seconds of shouting from the top of her lungs. As I was in shock, I tried to explain the situation and persuade the officer to calm down but to no end. The whole airport was looking at us. It was humiliating and embarrassing. For an officer of such great airport of such great city to act so unprofessionally and unhinged with no warning is absolutely abysmol!

I didn't follow up on the matter as I didn't want to risk missing our flight. This horrible lady looked angry and had no common sense, no sense of care or integrity in her behaviour. If it was inappropriate for my mother to stay back for my sister to assist her, she could have gave her a warning and asked her to move but instead, she decided make a scene out of embarrassing my mother infront of everyone by shouting words in her native language and insulting us when we had no way of knowing what was the cause of the issue at the time.

In 10th May 2023, police officer desk 28 of passport check was rude and disrespectful to passengers.

He refused entry to my husband and did not want to explain what to do and kept speaking Turkish. My husband doesn't speak english, while I was trying to translate, the officer was very agressive to both of us and forced me to pass and let my husband in trouble.

Turkey is a great country to visit often but behaviours like these makes us think twice.

I was flying from this airport on 12 of Febr.

with my mom. We came to the airport 4 hours in adcance and anyway we missed the flight. The reason - zero service for desabled people. We didnt get a wheelchair. Asked everyone. They sent me from one place to another. And no help at all i think the stuff is very careless, rude and they font know there work properly.

They dont care even if you die in front of them.

I never thought turkish people can be this kind of people. They are not even a muslims , they are not even a humans

Avoid this airport if you can !