Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles - Advice for disabled passenger considering TK suite

My mum and I are travelling to Singapore with LH F class in October on redemption tickets. There is now a 6 hour layover in FRA so thinking of changing to TK 77W First class suites via LHR and IST. ANA showing suitable availability. Means 2 stops rather than 1 but tempting to experience. Only an hour and a half layover in IST. This should be enough? Is it the same plane that flies on to SIN (TK 1992 from LHR/TK066 from IST)?

My Mum had a knee replacement last year and has a weakness in her other knee so will require some assistance which I am sure can be arranged, and which is requested in booking. However how suitable is the airport/good is assistance available at IST and then in a TK suite for someone who has difficulty, for example, in pushing herself up from low seat. There does not seem a lot of room to stand in the suite when bed is made up. Is that right? I am sure it will be fine but would welcome comments from someone who has travelled in suites/knows IST airport if there are any problems they think a passenger with knee disabilities might come across. Any comments welcome on this. I myself am sure it will probably actually be better for her than LH as she will have her own space but she needs a bit of reassurance on that.

Many thanks

Getting around IST will be no trouble as you get full concierge service with a buggy, able bodied or not. They'll be standing at the aircraft door when you disembark.

The TK F seat is quite high so no problem there. In the bed position you would have to open the doors to swing your legs around to the floor in total comfort. Alternatively you could sit up in bed and press the button to place the seat into a more upright position first; i.e. you don't have to physically get up to go from seat to bed or vice versa.

As long as TK maintains the 77W on both legs I'd think it is an excellent option, especially as, IIRC, TK provides a buggy for F pax in SIN unlike LH.

However, TK has been shifting those 77W around its schedule constantly, and at rather short notice (e.g. 330's have taken over most 77W flights to SIN this summer). This is mostly detrimental to those booked in F, obviously.

And if the LHR-IST 77W gets the axe, I'd make sure a buggy is waiting at the TK 1992 arrival gate (the London office is very responsive to email requests), as they there doesn't seem to be a standard procedure dictating when F service begins (I was once asked to call a special number to have someone come meet me upon arrival at the airport).

Lastly, the TK 77W I have been on have always parked at remote stands, with a dedicated minibus for F pax. This however entails using stairs instead of a jetbridge; not sure how a reduced-mobility passenger is handled.

Product-wise, the TK seat may be light-years ahead of LH's, but not necessarily more convenient for a disabled passenger. The armrests go down to the seat cushion's level in the bed position, taking up mostly all the available room between the door and the bed (there is a tiny opening left next to the closet door, enough to open it partially or reach for shoes stored underneath, but not to stand).
Leaving the doors open would be an option, although opening them should be quite easy even for an elderly person. If necessary, response time to the call button is extremely short, and most Turkish crew eager to please (less impressed by the male 9W crew, which should be done with its training duties thus gone by now).

When the bed is made, shifting the seat to an upright position will make a mess of the bedding (pillowtop 'mattress' + duvet) as the legrest and footrest reposition themselves. As one's midsection is right next to the middle of the doors (when in 'bed mode'), if your mother is able to rotate her legs 90 degrees it would not be necessary to straighten the seat. As mentioned by FoM, the seat is on the high side, almost throne-like :)

The TK F hard product is outstanding (I fear too lavish to survive in its current 9W form for TK once the leases are up); the soft product not the most polished, but trying hard; the weakest part is the unreliable scheduling of the 77W.

[QUOTE=monahos;12027618] However, TK has been shifting those 77W around its schedule constantly, and at rather short notice (e.g. 330's have taken over most 77W flights to SIN this summer). This is mostly detrimental to those booked in F, obviously.

Looking both on ANA and on TK website over next month or so it says that IST-SIN TK066 is operated by a 330 (no sign of any 77W) but looking ahead to September /October (we travel on 9 October) consistently shows it as operated by the 77W on a Th, F, Sun, Mon. Also shows TK 1992 from LHR to IST as operated by 77W on a F,Sun, Mon.

I know for operational reasons there might always be an aircraft change but given what TK schedule shows what do those who regularly travel TK think the chances are that this will be changed.