Once you arrive at Sabiha Gökçen Airport (SAW), you may wonder what the best way is to get from the airport to the city. Taking an airport bus directly to the city is one of the fastest and easiest ways.
Havabüs or Havaist?
Havabüs buses are shuttle vehicles that go to Sabiha Gökçen Airport on the Anatolian side. Havaist is the name of the vehicles going to the new Istanbul Airport on the European side.
Ataturk Airport is now closed and no longer in service. Havabüs and Havaist services were previously called Havaş and later Havataş. Currently, the name Havaş is used among the public for transportation vehicles going to the airport, but the official names of these buses have now changed. When looking at the departure times and stops, you should pay attention to which bus you should use according to the airport you will go to. You can see the names written largely on the buses, too.
The Havabüs is a shuttle vehicle that you can use to go from Sabiha Gökçen Airport to the city center or from the city center to the airport. You can pay your ticket in cash in Turkish lira when you board. You can only pay by card if you pay at the box offices next to the shuttles before boarding at central stops such as Taksim and Kadıköy. You can also pay with an Istanbulkart, but it is useful to carry cash with you to avoid any risk in case there is an issue with paying by card.
You can place your luggage in the luggage compartment located under the bus. You can take your personal belongings on board with you and place them in the compartment above the seat. You can check this website for the current schedules and fares.
How Long Will the Journey to/from the Airport Take?
Your journey time will vary depending on where you board and the time. Since Istanbul is a city famous for its traffic, your transportation time will be longer when you go to work in the morning, when you leave work in the evening, in rainy or snowy weather, when there is road work, or if there is an accident. However, it is likely that the journey takes between 1 and 2 hours on average from Taksim to Sabiha Gökçen Airport. You should make sure to arrive at the airport 2 hours before. In this case, you should board the Havabüs at least 4 hours before your flight time.
- by Melike Kocaer