Things felt tense at Istanbul Airport.
Sun 5:44 pm +00:00, 16 Aug 2026We flew into Istanbul at about 4am from Manila and over the next hour so many flights arrived from all over, that the airport was packed. Maybe two hundred flights in about three hours came in, and another two hundred left within four hours. The queues for international transit were unbelievable, and everyone looked a bit shocked finding themselves in such a throng. There was no panic or anything, but no one smiled and few spoke. Turkish security was also noticeably stricter than normal with a series of questions asked at each checkpoint,where normally it’s a wave through. Everyone just wanted to get on with their journey and out of there.
We usually arrive about the same time of night from Manila and the place is normally empty. Last night you couldn’t find four seats together in cafes or in the main lounge, and there were queues at the toilets for at least an hour. Again no one spoke in the queues, as if sensing this was all a bit unusual. There was definitely a tension in the air, and not just the earnestness of people desperate for their turn in the loo!
Out on the tarmac there were almost no planes other than Turkish Air when we emerged to board our next flight. There was one Qatar and two Thai Air planes visible and that was it. Again kinda unusual.
Flying in, the route had passed over northern India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Khazakstan, The Caspian, Azerbaijan, Georgia, The Black Sea – skirting north of Tehran and South of Ukraine and south of Russia (Rostov On Don). We always used to pass over China coming West in previous years, but that route would have sent us over Russia where the drone war is getting unpredictable.
I assume Turkish Air is very heavily booked as UAE’s Dubai, and Qatar’s Doha, are seen as war zone now, as are Kuwait and Bahrain. That said, some Turkish friends are holidaying in Saudi Arabia, which has ‘stuff’ going on and some other friends are just back from Jordan, saying they had a great time visiting family. I met a lady from Kuwait in the lounge getting coffees. I asked her how things were going there, and she said ‘pretty OK’ with a smile.
I wonder what routes will be open next year. Let’s hope someone finds a way to de-Trump and Netanyahu the situation. The gap between wars is only about a hundred miles, and that lines many peoples’ journeys up on Istanbul. Then again, Erdogan is not the steadiest operator either. People were just happy to get on their way.
