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Live Istanbul Airport radar — LTFM

This is a live approach-controller's view of Istanbul Airport (LTFM, Türkiye). Every blip is a real aeroplane in the air right now, with its real callsign, altitude, ground speed and track, fed by community ADS-B receivers and refreshed every ~10 seconds.

📡 Open the live Istanbul radar
LTFMICAO code
325 ftfield elevation
Türkiyecountry
~10 sposition refresh

The airport

Runways: 34L/16R, 35R/17L, 36/18 (three parallel pairs).

Europe's busiest airport by movements, home hub of Turkish Airlines and Pegasus. Approaches usually run from the south onto the 34/35/36 family with the Black Sea beyond the threshold; dual simultaneous landing streams on 34L and 35R are the normal picture in the morning and evening banks.

What you will see on the scope

Turkish Airlines widebodies (A330, A350, 777) mixed with a huge Pegasus and AnadoluJet narrowbody flow, plus long-haul traffic from Asia arriving between 05:00 and 08:00 local. Expect 40+ arrivals an hour at peak.

Not a map — a radar scope

Flight trackers show you a map. ATC Guy shows you what an air traffic controller actually works with: a dark scope, range rings, data blocks and the final approach corridor. The active runway is not guessed — it is measured from the real landing stream, so when Istanbul switches runways, the scope switches with it. Tap any data block for the aeroplane's real altitude, speed, track and vertical rate.

Take the position

Watching is free; so is working. In LIVE mode, real arrivals are handed over to you as they enter the sector — from that moment they take your instructions. Vector them, line them up, land them. Separation rules apply exactly as in the campaign: 3 miles or 1,000 feet, with wake-turbulence spacing behind heavies. At the end of the session you get a shift report — handovers, landings, alerts — to share.

Controller's tip for Istanbul

Two parallel finals means two separate lines to build. The scope shows both corridors; keep each stream on its own runway and do not let a 34L arrival drift across the 35R centreline.

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How the live radar works

Airliners broadcast their position, altitude and identity over ADS-B. Volunteers around Istanbul receive those signals and share them through public feeds; ATC Guy polls the feed, projects the positions onto the scope and dead-reckons between updates so the aeroplanes move smoothly. Landings are detected from the data, and the runway in use is inferred from where the landing stream actually lines up — read more in how the runway in use is decided and how to read a radar scope.

FAQ

Can I watch Istanbul Airport traffic live?

Yes — this page opens a live radar scope over LTFM with real arrivals and real callsigns, updating from public ADS-B feeds. No signup; free in your browser.

Can I control the traffic myself?

Yes. Real arrivals are handed to you as they enter the sector and you vector, sequence and land them in a game layer. Positions can be delayed — this is a game, not a real ATC tool.

Which runways does Istanbul Airport use?

34L/16R, 35R/17L, 36/18 (three parallel pairs). The scope measures the runway in use from the real landing stream rather than assuming it.

Where does the data come from?

Community ADS-B receivers via public feeds such as adsb.lol, polled every ~10 seconds.

Is it free?

Watching is free and unlimited. Taking the live position is free once per day; Radar Pro ($14.99 one-time or $3.99/month) removes the limit and opens the full campaign.

More live radars:
Athens International · Amsterdam Schiphol · Zurich Airport · London Heathrow · New York JFK · Tokyo Haneda · Hong Kong International · Dubai International · Madrid Barajas · Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson · Innsbruck Airport

ATC Guy is a free browser game. Live positions come from community ADS-B receivers (adsb.lol) and update every ~10 seconds. Not for real-world navigation. Contact

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