Sit on the Right side of the plane for the best views on flights from Newark to Istanbul. While left side wins at takeoff for the Manhattan views, the right side delivers more consistently across the full flight — southern England coastline, the Alps from the right on a typical routing, and the spectacular Istanbul arrival over the Marmara. Right side edges it overall.

During takeoff from Newark Liberty International (EWR), sit on the Left side for the best views. EWR typically departs northeast on runway 22L/22R or east on 29, then turns north over the New York metro area. A left seat gives you Manhattan's skyline, the Hudson River, and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge as the aircraft climbs out over New Jersey and banks toward the Atlantic. Notable sights include: Manhattan skyline, Hudson River, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, Newark Bay.

When landing at Ataturk (IST), sit on the Right side for the best views. Ataturk Airport (IST) is now closed but historically used runways oriented roughly east-west (06/24 and 18/36). Approaches from the west over the Sea of Marmara on runway 06 put the right side facing south toward the Marmara, with the Bosphorus, the historic peninsula of Sultanahmet, and the Princes Islands visible. Right seat captures the most iconic Istanbul geography on final approach. Notable sights include: Sea of Marmara, Bosphorus Strait, Sultanahmet historic peninsula (Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque visible as domes), Princes Islands.

The flight from Newark Liberty International (EWR) to Ataturk (IST) takes Approximately 9.5 to 10.5 hours.

The route typically tracks northeast over Nova Scotia, then crosses the North Atlantic near Newfoundland, passes over southern Ireland and England, crosses the English Channel, flies over central Europe including Germany and Austria with possible views of the Alps, then crosses the Balkans over Romania and Bulgaria before descending toward the Black Sea coast and Istanbul.