Diyarbakır Airport (Amed) and every other airport in Bakur: which one to fly to

Diyarbakır Airport (DIY) is the airport of Amed, the largest city of Bakur, and the only airport in Bakur with direct flights from Europe all year round. It is not the only option, though. Bakur has twelve airports with scheduled flights, spread from Meletî to Wan, and for many families another airport is closer to home. This guide compares all of them: which ones you can reach direct from Germany, where you change planes for the others, and which ticket page has the live fares.

The Kurdish name comes first here, with the name booking sites use in brackets. Search with either; the airport code is the same.

All airports in Bakur at a glance

Airport	Booking name	Direct from Europe
Amed	Diyarbakır (DIY)	Germany, all year
Xarpêt	Elazığ (EZS)	Cologne/Bonn, winter
Mêrdîn	Mardin (MQM)	No
Wan	Van (VAN)	No
Êlih	Batman (BAL)	No
Şirnex	Şırnak (NKT)	No
Riha	Şanlıurfa (GNY)	No
Meletî	Malatya (MLX)	No
Mûş	Muş (MSR)	No
Semsûr	Adıyaman (ADF)	No
Sêrt	Siirt (SXZ)	No
Agirî	Ağrı (AJI)	No

Every airport in the table has flights from Constantinople and Ankara, so a trip with one change is always possible. Most also have flights from Izmir and Antalya, and Wan from Adana as well. The sections below give the details per airport.

Two more airports have no flights you can count on at the moment. Gever (Hakkari Yüksekova, YKO) has had no flights on the boards recently, and a long runway closure has been reported. Çewlîg (Bingöl, BGG) is probably closed for runway works until spring 2027.

In practice the choice comes down to two questions. Is there a direct flight from your city to Amed? And if not, which airport has the best connection from Constantinople or Ankara on your dates?

Amed (Diyarbakır, DIY): direct from Hannover, Düsseldorf and Cologne/Bonn

Amed has the most direct flights from Europe of any airport in Bakur. In winter there are three routes from Germany:

From	Airline	Days
Hannover	SunExpress	Mon, Thu
Düsseldorf	SunExpress	Sun
Cologne/Bonn	Pegasus	Fri, all year

In summer the network grows. In summer 2026 SunExpress also flew once a week from Berlin (Thursday), Frankfurt (Wednesday) and Stuttgart (Saturday), and Düsseldorf had three flights a week instead of one. The summer timetable for 2027 is not yet known; the search shows the routes as soon as they can be booked.

A direct flight from Germany to Amed takes about four hours. With only four direct flights a week in winter, the day of the week often decides more than the price. If the direct flight does not suit your dates, a ticket with one change via Constantinople on the day you want can be the better choice, even if it takes longer.

From the rest of Europe, the United Kingdom and North America

From everywhere else you change planes once. THY flies from Constantinople to Amed at least once a day. AJet flies from Ankara and from Sabiha Gökçen, the second airport of Constantinople, and Pegasus from Sabiha Gökçen. SunExpress and Pegasus also connect Amed with Antalya and Izmir, which can be useful from cities with holiday flights to those airports. From London the usual choice is THY via Constantinople or Pegasus via Sabiha Gökçen; from Toronto and other cities in North America, THY via Constantinople.

The ticket page for flights to Amed lists the lowest fares recently found from your city, cheapest first.

Mêrdîn (Mardin, MQM): does it have direct flights?

No. Mardin Airport has domestic flights only: THY from Constantinople, AJet from Ankara and Sabiha Gökçen, Pegasus from Sabiha Gökçen and Izmir, and SunExpress from Antalya and Izmir. From Düsseldorf a trip with one change takes roughly eight to eleven hours on the same day, depending on the connection.

Many travellers to Mêrdîn also look at the direct flights to Amed. Which airport suits you best depends on where you are going and on your dates; compare both. The ticket page for flights to Mêrdîn has the live fares.

Wan (Van, VAN)

Wan, the city on the eastern shore of Lake Wan, has one of the busier airports of Bakur, with about twelve flights a day to Constantinople, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya and Adana. There is no direct flight from Europe or North America, so you change once. Because there are so many flights to the west, the connection is rarely the problem: you usually have several flights a day to choose from. Live fares: flights to Wan.

A note for readers in North America: many searches for “Van airport” there are about Vancouver. This section is about Wan in Bakur, code VAN.

Êlih (Batman) and Şirnex (Şırnak)

Êlih (Batman, BAL) has flights to Constantinople, Ankara, Antalya and Izmir, and no scheduled international routes. It is the nearest airport to Heskîf (Hasankeyf) on the Tigris. Live fares: flights to Êlih.

Şirnex (Şırnak, NKT) is a small airport with a few flights a day: THY to Constantinople and AJet to Ankara and Sabiha Gökçen. With so few flights, the days and times of the connection decide your trip more than the price does. Live fares: flights to Şirnex.

Riha, Xarpêt and Meletî (Şanlıurfa, Elazığ, Malatya)

Riha (Şanlıurfa, often just Urfa, GNY) has flights to Ankara, Constantinople, Izmir and Antalya, and no direct flights from Europe. Live fares: flights to Riha.

Xarpêt (Elazığ, EZS) has several flights a day via Constantinople, Ankara and Sabiha Gökçen. In winter Pegasus also flies direct from Cologne/Bonn on Sundays. Other German routes to Xarpêt have been reported but are not confirmed; the search shows what can actually be booked. Live fares: flights to Xarpêt.

Meletî (Malatya, MLX) has flights to Constantinople, Ankara and Izmir. Live fares: flights to Meletî.

The smaller airports: Mûş, Semsûr, Sêrt and Agirî

These four airports have only a few flights a day, all within the region, so you always change planes on the way from Europe.

• Mûş (Muş, MSR): daily flights to Ankara, Constantinople and Sabiha Gökçen, and to Izmir a few times a week. Flights to Mûş.
• Semsûr (Adıyaman, ADF): about three flights a day to Ankara and Constantinople. Flights to Semsûr.
• Sêrt (Siirt, SXZ): flights to Constantinople and Ankara. Flights to Sêrt.
• Agirî (Ağrı, AJI): flights to Ankara, Constantinople and Izmir. Flights to Agirî.

With so few flights per day, a delay on the first flight can cost you the connection. Choose one booking for both flights where you can, so the airline rebooks you if that happens.

Which airport to choose

A few rules of thumb from comparing these routes:

• You live near Hannover, Düsseldorf or Cologne/Bonn: start with the direct flights to Amed, and in winter also check Xarpêt from Cologne/Bonn.
• You live elsewhere in Europe: compare the airport closest to your destination with Amed. A connection via Constantinople to a smaller airport can save you more time than a direct flight to a city further away.
• You travel in summer: look again in spring. The summer timetable usually adds direct routes from Germany to Amed.
• You travel around Newroz or Eid: look early. There are only a handful of direct flights from Germany each week, and these weeks are busy.

Visa for Bakur

For Bakur the rules are simpler than for Başûr. With a Dutch, German or Swedish passport you need no visa for stays of up to 90 days in any 180 days, and the same applies to British (for tourism), US and Canadian passports. Your passport must be valid for at least 150 days after arrival. Other passports have their own rules; see our visa page before you book.

Every direct route from Europe to Kurdistan, for Bakur and Başûr, is on the page with all direct flights.