IST International to Domestic Minimum Connection Time split carriers

[lonjams]

Hi all,

Looking to Fly into Istanbul (IST) on BA (arriving 12.15PM) and then onto Konya (KYA) with Turkish Airlines (departing 1410PM) giving us a connection time of just under 2 hours.

Is this doable (international to domestic connection on split carriers/tickets) and what is the actual recommended minimum transfer time? Any advice or specific warnings to help make the transfer smoother would be appreciated.

I accept that knowing my luck BA will be late into IST and do have a back-up plan but this would be much easier if it works.

Many thanks

[SamG]

90mins is MCT. Personally I’d say this will work often but not always if you’re hand luggage only. BA often runs a bit late and Istanbul is a huge airport – often very long taxis and you’ve potentially got a lot of ground to cover to clear immigration and get to your domestic gate

BA won’t send any luggage through so if you had to reclaim then it very likely won’t work.

[JonathanC]

It’s probably better to just book the whole trip with TK instead of BA (unless you’re in dire need of a TP booster), that way you’ll have you connection taken care of by them, you’ll also get a seat better than CE even if you opt for Economy on TK.

TK are more expensive than BA, but there’s a reason, and a good one

I only used BA to fly to IST last year to use an evoucher, if it wasn’t for that, I’d have flown TK

[John]

The concept of MCT doesn’t exist on separate tickets.

Agree if HBO it’s worth a try, as long as you’re prepared to spend the money for the back-up plan

[JonathanC]

I personally wouldn’t bother booking with BA at all, just use TK for the whole journey.

BA is only really worth bothering with if you’re in dire need of TPs.

With TK, wherever you sit, you’ll get IFE and proper catering, yes TK is more expensive but BA pulled out just about everything that made them attractive from narrow body operated routes years ago.

Plus if you book TK, they’ll handle your transfer and look after you if things go wrong, do a self transfer and you’ll lose your next plane ticket if there’s problems, not usually an issue if you’re looking at a long layover, but you never know what might happen

[lonjams]

Thank you all for the advice. Much appreciated.

[can2]

It is very tight. The taxi at IST takes ages, it is a one-terminal, middle-eastern-like airport with a long walk from the gates to passport check, and doing it again in reverse for your TK flight will take a lot of time. If the security is busy, or your BA flight is delayed for 20min, for example, it is impossible, I think.