Milas-Bodrum Airport

Milas-Bodrum Airport, better known as Bodrum Airport, is an international gateway which is 35 kilometres away from the Bodrum town centre to the north-east. Milas, or ancient Mylasa, is even closer and it is just 18 kilometres to the airport.

Bodrum flights have started after the opening of a domestic terminal in 1998. At the time, it also served the international flights until the construction of a new international terminal in 2012.

The IATA code of this airport, an acronym for International Air Transport Association, is BJV and it is run by DHMI, another boring acronym used for the General Directorate of State Airports Authority of Turkiye.

Although global pandemic caused a significant drop in the number of airport passengers in recent years, the biggest airport in the region is Adnan Menderes Airport of Izmir province with 7.6 million passengers in 2021 (12.4 million in 2019). Milas-Bodrum Airport takes the second place with 2.9 million passengers (4.8 million in 2019) followed by Dalaman Airport at the third place, which had 2.3 million passengers in 2021 (4.8 million in 2019).

Milas-Bodrum International Airport offers VIP and CIP lounges, parking lots, banks, ATM machines, shops, health care facilities, post office and rent-a-car companies for both domestic and international passengers. Services like customs and passport controls, tax free shopping and exchange offices are also available for international travellers flying directly from their homeland. For more information on the airport and the facilities, you can check the official website of TAV, a private company operating 15 airports in 8 countries, including Milas-Bodrum Airport.

International Flights to Bodrum

Peak seasons are always the busiest times both in town and at the airport. Hundreds of planes land and take off during a single day. In July 2019, the airport served a total of 6,323 flights, for example. 3,164 of these were international flights while 3,159 were domestic. Due to the popularity of Bodrum among travellers, authorities are planning to increase the total capacity.

There are many airlines which have direct flights to Bodrum Airport. However, during Covid-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022, many of them had to suspend their flights. At the time of writing, in the spring of 2023, they seem to have resumed the flights for the coming season, but the information is limited yet. However, the airlines who had flown to Bodrum in 2019 are as follows in alphabetical order:

Air Arabia, Air Serbia, Anda Air, Azerbaijan Airlines, Azur Air, Bulgaria Air, Crendon Airlines, Deutsche Lufthansa, Easy Jet, Edelweiss Air, Enter Air, Eurowings, Freebird Airlines, Germania Fluggesellschaft, Jet2 Com, Nord Wind, Qatar Airways, Red Wings Airlines, Rossiya Airlines, Royal Jordanian, Sas Scandinavian Airlines, Small Planet, Tailwind, Taimyr Airlines, Tarom Romanian Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines (Ah, This makes me so sad!), Thomsonfly, Transavia Holland, Travel Service, Tui Airlines, Tui Fly Belgium, Ukraine International, Ural Airlines, Wind Rose Aviation and Wings of Lebanon.

As a Turkish Citizen, I have never been in the international terminal of Bodrum Airport, but some international visitors tell me that it is quite modern and cosy. Would you like to tell us about it? A short article and some nice pictures would help us know better. Please click here to learn how you can send me your articles and photos.

Domestic Flights to Milas-Bodrum Airport

Although direct flights to Bodrum are always available from Istanbul and Ankara throughout the year, some other major domestic cities like Adana and Antalya have scheduled flights mostly in summers.

Depending on your current location, flying to Bodrum may not be always the best way. If you are in a city like Izmir, land transport by coach would be the shortest and cheapest option. Similarly, if you are already on a vacation in some of the destinations in the Aegean Region of Turkiye, like Marmaris or Fethiye, a bus would be your only alternative.

On the other hand, if you plan to visit multiple destinations and Bodrum is just one of the stops on your vacation, you are probably making all arrangements by yourself and may have already lost yourself in hundreds of web pages, trying to decide what to do.

Well, it is a difficult task and I think I can ease your pain for the Bodrum leg by presenting brief information about the neighbouring airports below, which may be an alternative for your specific route. You can also use that information when arranging your connected flights.

Bodrum Airport Transfers

A vacation experience usually starts with an airport transfer. It doesn’t define what is next but still, it is the first impression in a brand-new adventure. Similarly, it is usually the last thing you do when your vacation time is over. That is why I have included airport transfer options in a separate article. Clicking Bodrum Airport Transfers will take you there for more information.

Other Airports in the Region

Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport

Izmir, my hometown, is a popular holiday destination as well as an important business centre. It is the third biggest city in Turkiye with the population of 4.5 million as of 2020. It is always easier to find a direct flight to Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport (IATA code is ADB) all year round.

However, it is not the ideal place to start making flight arrangements to Bodrum Airport, since there are no direct flights between the two locations. Any booking you make will be a connected flight via Istanbul or Ankara which would take at least 5 – 6 hours, including the waiting time between the flights. Not to mention the money that you are going to pay for the plane tickets.

Instead, you can take a shuttle to the city centre and ask the driver to let you off at the nearest stop for Bornova Intercity Bus Terminal. Then you can take a cab or use the public transport to get to the terminal. Once you arrive, finding a couch company to take you to Bodrum will be piece of cake. You can find a bus to Bodrum almost every half hour in summers. You may have to wait up to 2 hours in winters, though.

My favourite bus company is Pamukkale but there are other well-known companies like Kamil Koc and Metro. Your trip will take 3-4 hours depending on the season and it will cost much less than a flight, something like €10.00 – €12.00 per person.

Airports in Istanbul

Istanbul is the biggest city in Turkiye where you can find direct flights to Bodrum Airport every day of the year. Turkish Airlines, Anadolu Jet, Pegasus Airlines, and many others have scheduled direct flights.

So, what is the trick?

The trick is that there are two airports in Istanbul; Istanbul Airport (IATA code is IST) which is at the European part of the city and Sabiha Gokcen Airport (IATA code is SAW) which is at the Asian part. The distance between two airports are about 90 kilometres and considering the notorious Istanbul traffic, it can be a nightmare to get from one to another.

Although all the direct flights to Bodrum Airport are from Sabiha Gokcen Airport whereas, most of the incoming international flights to Istanbul arrives at Istanbul Airport. If you prefer making your own travel arrangements by yourself like I do, you need to take the distance and traffic conditions into consideration. The best practice would be choosing the same airport for any connection flights to Bodrum or wherever you are heading to.

Dalaman Airport

As I surf the internet, I have come across some travel blogs introducing Dalaman Airport as an alternative to Milas-Bodrum Airport. Although both airports are within the Mugla Province, they are actually far from being an alternative for each other, unless you have to!

Mugla Province has a well-deserved fame for being home for some of the most popular touristic destinations of Turkiye, such as Bodrum, Datca, Marmaris, Fethiye, Dalaman, Gocek and Koycegiz. While Bodrum Airport serves mainly Bodrum and Milas, Dalaman Airport takes care of the rest in terms of passenger traffic. In addition, many people prefer to fly to Dalaman to get to Kas and Kalkan which are also touristic towns in the province of Antalya.

If you have already checked The Best of Bodrum’s distance charts, you would notice that the Dalaman Airport is 201 kilometres away from Bodrum town centre. Which means, you would need a ride that would take at least 3 hours on the best possible road conditions and that is if you could find a direct vehicle to Bodrum.

Avoid booking a flight to Dalaman Airport if your destination is Bodrum. Similarly, booking a flight to Bodrum to get to one of the towns which I mentioned above would also be a mistake. In some cases, Datca may be an exception since there are ferries between Bodrum and Datca on a regular basis as a part of Bodrum water transport alternatives.

How to Get to Bodrum from Dalaman Airport?

For some reason, let’s assume that you have landed at Dalaman Airport somehow and you need to find a way to Bodrum.

Of course, you can always rent a car from the airport. However, if it is not your intention, your first move should be taking an airport shuttle to Mugla city centre. Tell the driver that you would like to go to Mugla Bus Terminal to find a bus or minibus to take you to Bodrum.

Mugla Municipality has regular busses and minibuses which operate between Mugla and all towns and villages in its scope of authority. Once you get to the terminal, find a bus to Bodrum and you will be there in couple of hours. If you have a prepaid Mugla City Card, you will also have an extra discount to travel within the Mugla city limits with city operated Muttas services.