And I have met both of you two at LGKV and LTBH (2009 or so) 
Hi Duman,
I had contact with LTBA and GA/VFR was approved for september, but I am still not sure what airport best to take.
For LTFJ, I had contact with Hİlmi, also a club member I think.
I am entering Turkey from Greece (probably from Tessaloniki- or another one with the correct facilities, I have to look up the other options) – I think that is the easiest (otherwise is Bulgaria an option, but I prefer Greece).
My destination in Turkey is really Istanbul, the city itself. (I have to be there 3 days in september and I have 1.5 day to fly back to Belgium (with an option to 3.5 days – but that’s not sure yet) – So I don’t want to waste time to travel half a day to an other airport far away. I will take a parkingstand for 3 or 4 days.
The plane will be a small Mooney M20J.
I will appreciate your help with this situation.
Hello i am Turkish pilot and member of Istanbul Aviation Club my name is. Ferhat Tigrel
There are two Airports in Istanbul
LTBA is closed to general aviation .You can use. LTFJ Sabiha Gokcen airport.
Please inform me from which country are you planning to enter Turkey and your destination in Turkey
So I will send more information about your flight
A few weeks ago, I had already e-mail contact with the flying club at LTFJ (maybe interesting for other people too):
Unfortunately the two airports are very very busy with commercial traffic , and they are not very general aviation frirendly. Our club is located in Sabiha Gokcen Airport ( we plan to move to Bursa in the near future) As far as I know , you cannot arrive at Ataturk via VFR flight plan.
We can handle your parking and procedures for you if you arrive at Sabiha however.
The parking fee for general aviation aircraft is 60 eur per day.
The transfer to (when you arrive) and from (when you depart) the CIP gate ( this is the only place you can enter the airport if you do not have ana APron card) is 150 usd each.
You can buy avgas from us , and it is 4.00 eur per liter.
You find these prices are rather steep but most of these fees are paid by our club to Sabiha gokcen administration, and their prices are really hight for general aviation operators.
Alternatively you can land at Corlu LTBU or Yenisehir bursa LTBR; which have customs facilities , but we do not have any further info on their fees and procedures.
So, for 4 days Istanbul, it would be almost the same amount as in Ataturk (handling costs more but airport fees are much cheaper). On a few internet sites I find handling is mandatory in Istanbul, but nothing in the AIP.
Corlu is also an option, but it is 1.5h drive from Istanbul with a rental car. LTBR is not an option, it takes too long to get in Istanbul, as well as LTBH or LTBJ
I have only been to LTBH myself (in 2009) but have this email from 2009 which, together with my poor memory, suggests LTFJ is worth a closer look.
Anybody knows Ataturk LTBA (Istanbul?)
In the AIP I don’t find the handling is mandatory, but at such big airport, it seems very strange if it isn’t (for a vfr flight with a light acft)
I contacted already a few handling agents (with prices between 500 – 900€)… but if it isn’t mandatory, it would be nicer.. I mailed also the airport itself a few weeks ago, but I haven’t received any answer yet on the question if it is mandatory
Here is my take on handling for my plane a C210. For 99% of my flying career it was not necessary and therefore a rip off. The 1% of the time when I felt it was not, involved complicated govt Bureaucracy and obtaining wx with a system I was not familiar with. For example Caymans to Panama, Greenland to Iceland. By the way Rocket Route was superb with their personalized help then and now. I actually got a human who spoke English, was understandable, experienced, and didnt charge by the minute. They coordinated and got me Fuel prices, and landing fees, opening times, etc. Basically they did the handling when I ran into problems enroute from Canada to Budapest. Which is totally different than the follow me truck to the ATM machine that I have experienced in Central America and on this side of the globe.
In the US we usually ride on the coat tails of Biz jets at larger FBOs. They make very little money on a 172 but what the hell the staff is there why not allow the piston crowd in? Its good will and some more business.
Im new in the Europe so Im still learning. But what is needed here is something like a good active pilot group like AOPA, CPA, which we have in the states. Perhaps this organization will fill that roll.
Heres what Ive learned. I go to the airports section in RR look at the AIP call the airport management ask if a Handler is required and their tel number. Some places like Corfu have 4 or 5 handlers ask for prices. Swissport by the way only charges 25EU with an AOPA card. The rest were 100Eu or more which also applies to SwissPort if you dont have an AOPA card. After selecting the handler, I give them the required info for an IFR slot. Flight plan thru RR and hopefully get there on time.
Hope this helps.
I am sure they have lost hundreds of “private pilot” customers over the last 12 months or so. The problem is: I guess they don’t care
+1
They certainly have lost me, because they didn’t care at all.
Just got their ‘Come Back for 2015’- email.
Wellesbourne actually
But it is typical UK airfield “food”…
