Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Esenboğa International Airport lies some 28 kilometres northeast of Ankara, Turkey's capital, and serves as the city's principal air gateway with three parallel hard runways capable of handling everything from general aviation to the largest airliners. Operated as a major TAV Airports Holding hub, it is home to Turkish Airlines, AJet, Pegasus, Corendon and SunExpress, and offers a visiting VFR or IFR pilot a well-equipped, high-capacity aerodrome with full ILS coverage on its main runways.
Esenboğa International Airport is the principal airport serving Ankara, the capital of Turkey, and functions as a major domestic and international hub operated by TAV Airports Holding under the ownership of the General Directorate of State Airports (DHMİ). It is a hub for AJet, Corendon Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, SunExpress and Turkish Airlines, and handles a substantial mix of scheduled passenger traffic. For a simulator pilot, it offers the challenge of operating into a large, busy Category-leading international field with three long parallel hard runways and full instrument approach facilities.
The airport lies near Çubuk in Ankara Province, about 28 kilometres (17 nautical miles) northeast of Ankara city centre. Given its status as the capital's main international airport, it sits within controlled airspace commensurate with a major hub, with approach and tower services provided as listed below.
Esenboğa has three physical parallel runways, all hard-surfaced and lit. The centre runway, 03C/21C, is 12,295 feet long. The right-hand pair, 03L/21R, is approximately 12,284/12,283 feet long and equipped with ILS. The third runway, 03R/21L, is 11,112 feet long and also equipped with ILS on both directions. Field elevation is 3,110 feet.
Pilots can expect the following frequencies: Approach (APP) on 119.1 MHz, ATIS on 123.6 MHz, Ground (GND) on 121.9 MHz, and Tower (TWR) on 118.1 MHz. Instrument approaches are available, with ILS serving runways 03L/21R and 03R/21L.
Esenboğa Airport opened in 1955 and takes its name from the nearby village of Esenboğa, itself derived from Isen Buqa, a Turkic warlord who camped his troops in the area during the Battle of Ankara in 1402. The current passenger terminal, built under a Build-Operate-Transfer arrangement, entered service on 16 October 2006 with a capacity of 10 million passengers. Esenboğa was named the best European airport in its category by Airports Council International (ACI Europe) in 2009, the first such award for a Turkish airport, and was again recognised by ACI as the best European airport in the 15-25 million passenger category in 2020. The field was also designated by NASA as one of the emergency landing sites for the Space Shuttle. A new parallel runway is under construction east of the terminal; on completion, the existing 03R/21L runway is planned to be redesignated 03C/21C, with the new runway taking over the 03R/21L identity.
Esenboğa remains a major scheduled-service hub, serving as a base for AJet, Corendon Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, SunExpress and Turkish Airlines, with extensive domestic and international route networks. A dedicated general aviation terminal, covering 469 square metres, opened in January 2012 to handle private aircraft. Given its scale and status as a major international airport, visiting pilots should expect a highly controlled, busy operating environment.
