ExceptionalNonstop · 2.5h
SHA to CANChina
Guangzhou
$120
usually $270
−56%
Most monthly lows $163–$394. Cheaper than every other month on record (10).
Flights · SHA → IST
Shanghai to Istanbul
Best fare, round trip
$506
−20%
below its usual $635
you keep $129
GoodFound
- Depart
- Wed 28 Oct
- Return
- Thu 12 Nov
- Stay
- 15 nights
- Flight
- 1 stop · 15.5h
- Airline
Gulf Air
Most of this route’s monthly lows fall between $541 and $646. The drop beats 55% of measured fares on the board, over 8 observed months.
Cached fare — the booking search re-prices live before you pay.
TürkiyeIstanbulTwo continents, one skyline of minarets. Turkish Airlines’ mega-hub means constant fare battles.Best windowApr–May · Sep–OctAirportsIstanbul (IST) · Sabiha Gökçen (SAW)Every route into IstanbulFare seasonality
When this route gets cheap.
Fares bottom out in October around $506 and peak in May near $867, 71% dearer, across the 8 months we track. The cheapest itinerary we are tracking makes one stop and takes about 15.5 hours outbound, on a 15-night trip — ticketed under Gulf Air, which on a connecting fare need not operate every leg. At $506 for 7,985 km each way, that works out to about $32 per 1,000 km flown. That is below the $44 per 1,000 km typical of long-haul fares here. Across the 16 departure cities we track at a similar distance from Istanbul, this fare ranks 4th — 30% above the $390 from Seoul. That puts it in the cheaper half of the 37 routes of similar length we watch out of Shanghai, where the middle fare is $771. The best time to be in Istanbul: Apr–May · Sep–Oct.
Day-level prices for the next 4 months
Press a day to compare its fares
The median cached fare across this calendar is 4% lower than when tracking began on 8 Aug — $622 then versus $595 now, across 17 recorded snapshots. This is a calendar-level trend, so an individual deal above can be lower. The lowest single day we have seen here is $472, on 13 Jan '27.
Cached day-level data for this route is sparse — 21 of 109 days priced, from 123 tracked fares. The days below are shown as found, with no cheapest-day or below-median call.
October 2026
November 2026
1Monday 2 November: $524. Compare fares from this day.3Wednesday 4 November: $544. Compare fares from this day.Thursday 5 November: $617. Compare fares from this day.6Saturday 7 November: $595. Compare fares from this day.Sunday 8 November: $615. Compare fares from this day.Monday 9 November: $510. Compare fares from this day.10Wednesday 11 November: $550. Compare fares from this day.1213141516171819Friday 20 November: $655. Compare fares from this day.212223242526272829Monday 30 November: $544. Compare fares from this day.
December 2026
1Wednesday 2 December: $572. Compare fares from this day.3456789101112131415Wednesday 16 December: $569. Compare fares from this day.17181920212223242526272829Wednesday 30 December: $579. Compare fares from this day.31
January 2027
Cached fares · checked 15 Oct 2026
Cheapest in Oct, around $506
20% below the $635 typical fare
$506Oct, the cheapest month. Compare October fares.$510Nov, below the usual price. Compare November fares.$568Dec, below the usual price. Compare December fares.$541Jan ’27, below the usual price. Compare January fares.$755Feb, above the usual price. Compare February fares.$867May, above the usual price. Compare May fares.$634Jun, around the usual price. Compare June fares.$646Jul, around the usual price. Compare July fares.
CheapestBelow usualUsualAbove usualPress a month to compare its fares
Cheapest round-trip fare found each month, Shanghai to Istanbul, from cached prices.
Route facts
- Airports
- Pudong (PVG) · Hongqiao (SHA) ↔ Istanbul (IST) · Sabiha Gökçen (SAW)
- Flight time
- ≈15.5 hours outbound
- Distance
- ≈7,985 km each way
- Typical price
- $635 round-trip (seasonal median)
- Airlines on the board
- Gulf Air
- Itineraries
- Connections on current fares
- Best months to visit
- Apr–May · Sep–Oct
Good to know
SHA → IST, answered.
Is $506 a good price for Shanghai to Istanbul?
Yes — the seasonal median for this route is around $635 round-trip. At $506 you're 20% below that, which we rate good for this route.
What is the cheapest month to fly from Shanghai to Istanbul?
Across 8 months of cached-fare history, Oct comes out cheapest on this route. The best months to actually be in Istanbul are Apr–May · Sep–Oct — when those overlap, that's your window.
How far in advance should I book SHA → Istanbul?
We do not publish a number for this, because we cannot measure it yet. Answering it honestly means watching the same departure date on this route over many weeks as it approaches, and that archive is still filling up — so any "book N days ahead" figure here would be borrowed from somewhere else rather than measured. What we can measure is which month is cheap: across 8 months of cached fares, Oct comes out lowest on this route. Our guide Why flight prices change covers what does move a fare.
Are there nonstop flights from Shanghai to Istanbul?
The current cheapest fares involve a connection, ticketed under Gulf Air. We hold no nonstop fare on this route right now, which does not mean none flies — search your exact dates to see what does.
Are these prices guaranteed?
No — these are cached fares found on real searches (this one on 17 October). Airlines reprice constantly, so the booking search re-checks the live price before you pay. Fresher finds are far more likely to still be available.
Next step
Sleeping in Istanbul?
Lock the flight first — then compare stays for 28 Oct – 12 Nov · 15 nights.
Browse hotelsMissed it?
Cached fares expire. This route has a feed of its own — follow it and the next SHA → IST drop reaches you as soon as we find it.
Follow this route’s feedKeep browsing
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