Istanbul Airport to Sabiha Gökçen Transfer: A Guide for Connecting Passengers

Plenty of travelers land at one Istanbul airport and fly out of the other. Maybe the fare was better, maybe the schedule worked. Either way, if you arrive at Istanbul Airport (IST) and leave from Sabiha Gökçen (SAW), or the other way round, the drive between them is the part of the trip that needs the most planning. The two airports sit on opposite sides of the Bosphorus, roughly 80–85 km apart. This guide covers the two main routes, how drive times change through the day, the tolls, and how to plan your connection.

First things first: this is not an airside transfer

There is no airside connection between IST and SAW. To reach the other airport you have to leave the first one. In practice that means:

• If you arrive on an international flight, you go through passport control and enter Turkey. Check the visa and entry rules for your nationality in advance.
• You collect your checked bags and check them in again at the other airport. Even on a single ticket, bags are usually not transferred automatically; ask your airline.
• At the second airport you go through the terminal entrance security check and check-in all over again.

The two main routes

When you request an IST–SAW trip on TristGo, the options that come back from Google Routes fall into two main routes.

Northern route: Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge (YSS)

This route follows the Northern Marmara Motorway around the north of the city and crosses the Bosphorus on the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge. It is about 83–85 km. Because it never enters the city, its drive time stays remarkably steady throughout the day.

City route: Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge (FSM)

This one runs through the city on the TEM motorway links and crosses on the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge. At about 74–80 km it is slightly shorter, but it uses one of Istanbul's busiest corridors, so its drive time depends heavily on traffic.

How the drive time changes by hour

These are Google Routes traffic predictions for a typical Tuesday (approximate, in minutes, as of 2026).

IST to SAW:

• YSS route: 63 min at 5:00, 52 at 8:00, 56 at noon, 56 at 17:30, 60 at 22:00.
• FSM route: 61 min at 5:00, 75 at 8:00, 69 at noon, 110 at 17:30, 62 at 22:00.

SAW to IST:

• YSS route: 56 min at 5:00, 50 at 8:00, 53 at noon, 53 at 17:30, 56 at 22:00.
• FSM route: 54 min at 5:00, 71 at 8:00, 62 at noon, 74 at 17:30, 56 at 22:00.

In short: at night and early in the morning there is no practical difference between the two. During the day, and above all in the late afternoon from IST to SAW, the northern route is clearly faster and more predictable. Around 17:30 the gap can approach an hour.

Bridge and motorway tolls

The two routes also cost different amounts. The figures below are the current crossing and motorway fees used in the TristGo booking system. They are approximate, valid as of 2026, and are updated when tariffs change.

• YSS route: Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge about 145 TL, plus the Northern Marmara Motorway section between the two airports about 845 TL. Around 990 TL in total.
• FSM route: Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge about 75 TL, plus the Çamlıca–Kurtköy section of the Anatolian Motorway about 56 TL. Around 131 TL in total.

So the northern route is faster most of the day but carries noticeably higher tolls. How tight your connection is decides between them: with plenty of time, or at night and early morning, the FSM route can make sense; with a tight connection, the predictability of the northern route may well be worth the difference.

Bridge tolls are included in your price. For motorway tolls you choose "pay now" or "pay the driver" when you book; our guide to tolls explains how it works. For the bigger picture on Bosphorus crossings, see our bridge or tunnel guide.

Going the other way, from Sabiha Gökçen to Istanbul Airport, the tolls on these two routes are the same. For that direction our system also calculated a third option that uses the Şile link of the Northern Marmara Motorway together with the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge; on that option the motorway section is about 220 TL. When you book, each option's card shows its own tolls.

Planning your connection time

It helps to split the total into four parts:

1. Landing and getting out: leaving the aircraft, passport control if you arrive internationally, baggage claim. This varies a lot with the flight, the hour and the queues.
2. The drive: roughly 50 to 110 minutes depending on route and time, as the lists above show.
3. Getting into the second airport: entrance security, then check-in or bag drop.
4. Check-in closing time: the deadline your airline sets before departure. It is a hard cut-off.

Add a buffer on top of that total. And remember that flights run late: a delay on your first flight feeds straight into the rest of the chain. If you are on two separate tickets, the second airline is not responsible for the first one's delay.

What to get right when you book

• Add your flight number. Enter the number of the flight landing in Istanbul and it is tracked live; if it is delayed, your pickup time is updated accordingly. We explain how this works in what happens to your transfer if your flight is delayed.
• Pick the route yourself. On the price step you see each option's distance, estimated duration, and bridge and motorway tolls, listed fastest first. The duration on screen assumes normal traffic flow, so in the evening lean on the estimates above.
• Enter your luggage accurately. The right passenger and suitcase count lets us plan the right vehicle. Our fleet is Mercedes Vito.

Overnight connections

Many connections fall between a late-night arrival and an early-morning departure. The 22:00 and 5:00 figures above sum this up well: at night the gap between the two routes all but disappears, and the drive takes about an hour either way. On a connection like that, choosing the route with lower tolls costs you very little time.

If there is a long gap between flights, you might prefer a hotel near your departure airport to a night on airport benches. In that case you book two separate transfers: from the arrival airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to the departure airport in the morning. Each booking covers one direction and shows its own route options.

Which airport is closer to what?

If you have a few hours between flights and are thinking of heading into town, our Istanbul Airport vs Sabiha Gökçen guide compares which neighborhoods each airport is closer to. For getting into the city, see our guides for Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gökçen.

Book your airport-to-airport transfer

On the booking page, enter the airport you land at and the one you fly out of to see the route options and price, and book online with your flight number.