Today first day of spotting at Istanbul Ataturk IST international airport. Landing were at 05 which is the most used for landings. Great shots can be taken from the seafront in an area called Florya. We went to a street named Florya Tesisleri. This is in a park close to the sea. The boulevard offers a great place for photos in the morning. There is a restaurant which is a bit elevate on a hill. It open at around 0800. Offers great views. You can sit on the terrace, enjoy food and drinks and make photos of landing aircraft. We stayed here for around four hours and had no hassle at all. Very relaxed atmosphere. At around 1400 the light is bad and we moved to the Flyinn shopping centre. The walk from the 05 spot to Flyinn is around 20 minutes. Taxi would cost 10 lira at the most.
Great place for photos as well from the openair terrace. There are many restaurants at the same level, toilets, wifi so very nice conditions for relaxed spotting.
There are two terraces at the Flyinn. An directly facing the runway, the other is also at the foodcourt level. Enter the cinema and at the end there is a smaller terrace. It overlooks landing at 05 and lineup for 36 runways. Nice if you have large lenses as this is a bit futher away from the runway then the big terrace with the seats and tables.
There is a supermarket in the basement for drinks etc. All very cheap.
Istanbul is dominated by Turkish Airlines. I guess 80 % of traffic is Turkish Airlines. Some very interesting airlines operate into IST. See airliners.net and others for photo proof.
You do not need a rental car. Distances are short, traffic is horrible and taxis are cheap and lots to choice from.
We stayed in the Radisson Blue close to the airport. Room 485 offers view over the airport and bizjet ramp. Breakfast is horrible expensive at 24 euro so buy food in the supermarket or in the cafe at spot for landings 05.
I can really recommend IST. It is very spotters friendly. No hassles at all. Two days would be max. After that the domination of Turkish gets boring. Combined with a trip to Antalya this is a recipe for success.
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