Mr Plane Guy 
Flight Reviews
Airport Lounges
& Travel Hacks.

Booking flights to Istanbul? Before you get carried away choosing rooftop restaurants and hotels with Bosphorus views, check those three little letters on your flight booking. IST and SAW are two different airports. Both serve Istanbul, but they sit on opposite sides of a very large city. Getting that detail right makes planning your arrival considerably easier. I flew from London Gatwick to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport (SAW) with Pegasus Airlines, and found the airport p

Turkey is one of those destinations I keep going back to. Whether I'm flying into Istanbul for a city break, heading to Dalaman for Marmaris, or planning my next adventure to Cappadocia, there's something about Turkey that keeps pulling me back. But after countless flights and holidays, I've also learnt something else... Most people start planning their Turkey holiday in completely the wrong order. They search for flights. Then hotels. Then transfers. Then luggage. Th

Istanbul is the sort of place where you set out for a quick coffee and return six hours later having eaten a fish sandwich, crossed between continents and somehow bought a lamp. I explored the city with my Turkish partner, Tansu. That made a difference: between the big-ticket sights, we stopped for tea, ducked into streets I might have walked past and remembered that the ferry is public transport as well as a rather wonderful way to see Istanbul. You don't need a luxury budg

After 15 years working as cabin crew, I’ve flown with rather a lot of airlines. Some have been fabulous. Some have been forgettable. And some have left me trapped at an airport for eight hours, questioning every life decision that led me to the departure board. Looking at you, Schiphol. So, when Pegasus Airlines invited me to experience its new direct flight from London Gatwick to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport, I was genuinely curious. Would this be bargain brilliance or

Cappadocia had been sitting very comfortably on my travel bucket list for years. Then Pegasus Airlines invited me to try its new daily flight from London Gatwick to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport, followed by a connecting flight to Kayseri. Suddenly, I was actually going.

Based on my experience, absolutely not. It was overcrowded, noisy and dirty, with no empty seats and some of the worst airport-lounge food I have encountered. I normally like Plaza Premium Lounges, which made this experience even more surprising. I paid £24 to enter and, quite honestly, I felt as though they should have paid me £24 to go inside. My advice? Save your money, find a restaurant in the terminal and avoid this lounge. Like, ever. I have visited plenty of disappoi

This Week’s Flight Plan BIGGEST STORY: British Airways is adding Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar for summer 2027, alongside changes across its long-haul network. NEW AIRLINE: Riyadh Air is bringing its Boeing 787 to Manchester. LOUNGE NEWS: A new Aspire lounge opens at Manchester Terminal 2, while Etihad reveals its future Heathrow lounge. PLANE HONEST: What a UK air traffic control disruption taught me about communication. HOTEL DEAL: A targeted £50 Radisson cashback offer on

The new route gives travellers across London, Surrey, Sussex and the wider South East another lower-cost option for reaching Istanbul, while also opening up connections across Pegasus Airlines’ extensive network.