I had a five hour layover in Seoul before my connecting flight to Istanbul was due to leave.
I was very happy the check-in agent in Sydney had been kind enough to through-checked my luggage so I would not have to bother about that in Seoul. It saved me the hassle to deal with immigration and customs and then having to reclaim and recheck my luggage, and frankly (although I never go the chance to check) I wonder if Turkish Airlines check-in would be open already 4-5 hours before departure. That could have been a boring evening!
Only thing needed was a boarding pass and to have my baggage number entered in the booking.
Transit in Seoul
I noticed the transfer security almost immediately after stepping off the plane from Sydney. After showing my booking confirmation to the officer and passing a rather thorough security screening I took an escalator up to the departure level.
There was a transfer desk nearby called "transfer desk D" which was manned by Asiana staff, very convenient since both TK and OZ are in the Star Alliance, or so I thought.
It turned out they could not help me and directed me to, what I understood as, "transfer desk A". A quick look at the terminal map and there was indeed a transfer desk A, at the other end of the rather sizeable terminal building.
The transfer desk A was completely deserted though, it seems like this desk was not in use as there were not even any timetables or airline flags on the desk.
With still no boarding pass in my hand I headed for the next transfer desk called transfer desk B which was used by Korean Air and Skyteam partners.
Of course the lady there could not help me either but at least she clearly told me to go to the A-concourse where there should be a transfer desk.
I suppose that’s what the first agent also meant, "transfer desk in concourse A" instead of "transfer desk A".
All this would not have been much of an issue if I had not had a hand luggage packed to the breaking-point in one hand and a few shopping bags in the other hand, but that's exactly what I had.
The A-concourse is a satellite building located in the middle of the apron. I believe it opened just 2-3 years ago and is used mainly by foreign carriers, i.e. carriers other than Asiana and Korean Air.
To get there you need to take an underground train and you won’t get access to the A-concourse unless you have a boarding pass for a flight departing from that concourse.
I showed the bouncer girl the booking confirmation for my Turkish Airlines flight and mentioned “transfer desk in A-concourse” and she did not seem to disagree and let me pass. Seems like I was finally on the right track...
There was indeed a transfer desk in the A-concourse, however they told me they would not start checking in Turkish Airlines passengers until 9 pm, it was now a few minutes past 7.
That itself was not a problem to me, the problem was rather getting lounge access since I wanted to have a cup of coffee (and preferably a shower) and was definitely not tempted to walk around the terminal for another two hours with all my hand luaggage waiting for the transfer desk to open.
He told me to just show the booking confirmation at the lounge and didn't think access should be a problem.
Pics
The spotless transit hall at Incheon airport
The A-concourse
Asiana lounge, A-concourse, Seoul/Incheon
The Asiana lounge was located one floor above the main departure level accessible using an escalator.
The very friendly lounge agent fortunately did not argue at all about lounge access, the booking confirmation printout was sufficient except that they had problems finding my name on the printout.
The lounge was very empty this evening, I don’t think there were more than 10 passengers inside the business class lounge (there was a first class section as well).
The lounge was on the whole quite OK with comfortable seats and several TVs (again covering the death of Michael Jackson). My only complaint about the lounge is that it was slightly dark, a part of the lounge was also blocked off for renovations so I am not sure if this was the final state of the lounge or just a temporary set-up.
Since this was the lounge in the A-concourse used mostly by Star Alliance carriers other than Asiana there is obviously a main lounge in the main terminal building, which I actually passed. Possibly that lounge would be nicer (which I can imagine it is) however I realised getting back to the main terminal building would probably be tricky since arriving and departing passengers are separated, so I decided to stay in the A-concourse lounge.
The lounge had a somewhat average selection of drinks and food. Food consisted of cold cuts like potatoes with herbs, pasta salad and vegetables.
There were also instant noodles, breads, soup as well as some Korean sweets/desserts on offer.
I believe they might have served more substantial hot food earlier but had already removed it.
The drinks selection was OK with a good selection of soft drinks, one type of red wine/white wine/pink sparkling wine and the standard selection of spirits.
Having walked through the entire terminal (twice!) searching for a transfer desk with increasingly heavy hand luggage I was happy to notice signs for showers in the lounge and asked the attendant if there was a shower room available, which there was.
The shower room was very nice and in absolute spotless condition with all kinds of amenities available from shaving kits and soaps to conditioners and toothbrushes.
A few minutes later I was feeling like a new person fit for a few more hours of travelling. I returned to the lounge and made myself a light evening meal as there were still a few hours to go before I would get a proper dinner on the plane.
As I mentioned the lounge on the whole was OK, but in the battle between Asiana and Korean Air (the two main Korean carriers) I think I will have to give the lounge award to Korean Air which had a far more superior lounge at Incheon airport (reviewed earlier in this report).
The food in the KE lounge was much better and the interior and atmosphere much more pleasant in my opinion.
Otherwise I think Asiana is a fabulous airline and other than the lounge being a bit dark the lounge attendants were most friendly and helpful and really went out of their way to provide a good service in the lounge.
Being a coffee addict there were obviously a few cups of coffee consumed in the lounge, which the attendant took notice of. When it was time for her to clean the coffee machine (which would take around 10-15 minutes) she specifically came to my seat and informed me about that, which was great!
Another great thing was that the girl at the reception desk had remembered my problems with getting a boarding pass. A few minutes after 9 pm she came into the lounge, approached me and kindly informed me the transfer desk for Turkish Airlines was now open so I could go downstairs to get my boarding pass.
Very nice! This is what five star service should be like!
Pics
The entrance to the Asiana lounge in the A-concourse
Inside the lounge
Nice seating and TVs
Overlookng the self-service area
Food and snacks
A closer look at the food offerings
Beer and soft drinks
Wine and spirits
The dining area
Another photo of the dining area
The very nice shower room
At 9.30 pm I collected my belongings in the lounge and headed for the transfer desk where the monitor now also had a Turkish Airlines logo.
The check-in process was rather quick and straight-forward but I was a bit surprised my pre-booked seat assignment had disappeared and seat 02K had been given to someone else, I got 03A instead.
Interestingly the man also printed a personal lounge invitation for me, not exactly needed, I have it at home as a souvenir now.
I had a walk around the transit hall, the selection of shops was not as good as in the main terminal building but I ended up buying some rather interesting Korean ginseng candies, which I still haven’t tasted, should be quite interesting.
I returned to the lounge where the reception girls recognised me and just let me pass. I spent the last hour in the lounge having drinks, watching TV and checking my e-mails using the free wifi in the lounge.
Boarding
The terminal was nearly deserted when I left the lounge at 11.20 pm, there were only two remaining departures this evening - Emirates to Dubai and Turkish Airlines to Istanbul.
Boarding started at 11.30 pm at gate 109 with priority boarding for business class passengers and Star Alliance gold card holders using the exit to the right of the podium.
According to my booking confirmation the flight was to be operated by an Airbus A330, but from personal experience aircraft changes do happen from time to time on TK and at the gate there was now an Airbus A340 instead.
I usually don’t take notice and keep track of the aircraft registrations of the aircrafts I fly on, but in fact I learnt during this trip that all TK Airbus A340s have names of Turkish cities, the A340 that would take us to Istanbul this evening was named Mersin, a city located on the Mediterranean coast in southern Turkey.
By a coincidence I took a photo of the A340 aircraft on the outbound leg where the name was also visible, and it turned out I was flying back on the same aircraft.
Pics
Only two flights left of the day: EK to DXB and TK to IST
The A-concourse heading for the gate
The gate, business class passengers use the right exit
The Airbus A340 at the gate. “Mersin“ is the name of the plane that will take us to Istanbul
Welcome onboard
Business class passengers used the forward passenger bridge leading to door 1L where I was greeted and directed to my seat where another FA offered to take my jacket.
The load in business class on this flight was very light and in combination with being one of the first passengers onboard I could take quite a lot of photos without disturbing the other passengers and the crew.
Only 12 seats (out of 34 seats in total) were occupied on this flight and naturally the seat next to mine remained empty.
Pre-departure drinks were offered, the standard water, OJ and bubbly. As on my previous flight all drinks were rather elegantly prepared at the bar counter in front of the business class cabin.
Health declaration forms were also handed out (I was starting to get used to these now). However the main purpose of the Turkish one was not to ask questions about the passenger's health and any possible symptoms of the flu but rather to get full contact details (permanent, temporary, and even next of kin) so they knew how to get in contact with us in case there would be incidents that could be traced back to this flight.
Turkish and international newspapers were also offered as well as the nice red L'Occitane amenity kit and white slippers.
The usual safety demonstration video was shown, the Turkish Airlines version is very long and extremely thorough, especially as everything is shown in both Turkish and English.
A man is also translating everything into sign language and really has to work hard with his hands and arms as the woman speaks very fast.
Pre-recorded announcements were also made in Korean.
The purser also wished us welcome onboard and told us the flight time to Istanbul was expected to be 11 hours and 25 minutes. She also mentioned we would fly at an altitude of 44,000 feet (which sounded very high).
Pics
The business class cabin onboard
The business class bar
A glass of bubbles before departure
Safety demonstration video, also in sign language
Seoul/Incheon-Istanbul, flight TK 91 operated by Turkish Airlines
Departure: 23:55
Arrival: 05:50
Aircraft: Airbus A340-300
Class: Business Class
Seat: 03A
The final pre-departure checks took more time than usual and a few minutes after scheduled departure the passenger bridges had not even been retracted yet.
I could see a rather impatient and nervous gate agent standing inside the passenger bridge and I realised something was not in order.
A few minutes later the captain informed us they had an error indication in the cockpit and had called for a flight mechanic. Sitting on the third row only a few meters from the cockpit I could see most of what was going on.
After a few more minutes wait and the flight mechanic finally arrived with a large folder under his arm where it said Airbus A340.
They closed the curtains to the galley and cockpit so no idea what they did in there, but after a few more minutes he came out and left the plane and it seems like the problem was fixed.
At 00.25 the doors were finally closed and we could leave Seoul as the last departure of the day.
I can imagine the ground staff were very relieved. Having to spend half the night at the airport dealing with angry passengers or having to find hotel accommodation for 200 passengers at 1 am was probably not something any of them wanted.
A rather slow taxi to the runway threshold followed and after an arriving cargo aircraft had vacated the runway we were finally airborne at 00.45 from runway 15L, almost an hour late.
During taxi and take-off we could once again enjoy the captain’s view on all monitors in the cabin which was very nice.
Pics
Pushback, with a night view of the terminal building
Take-off seen from the captain‘s view
The menu
As it was already 1 am the meal service started almost immediately and the menus were handed out, again personalised menus in a nice silver binder with my name on top of the a la carte page.
On the right side they had inserted the breakfast menu where passengers choose what they want for breakfast by ticking a box next to the item.
The FAs usually collect the form after the meal service is finished before passengers go to bed.
Pics
The menu
Here is the dinner and breakfast menu to Istanbul as well as the drink list:
Quote:
Menu Seoul-Istanbul
A la Carte Menu - First Service
Marinated king prawns
Tomatoes / pesto sauce
or
Roast beef with vegetables and mushrooms
Radish salad / grilled mushroom
***
Spicy lentils with goat cheese
Sautéed beef and cucumber
White eggplant salad
and / or
Creamy asparagus soup
***
Please choose from our selection:
Grilled codfish
Sautéed leaf spinach / cherry tomato
Fried potatoes
or
"Sis Kebab" beef brochette
Creamy eggplant puree / Turkish style rice
Grilled green pepper and tomato
or
Fillet of beef
Kimchi sauce / mixed vegetables
Steamed rice
***
Assorted cheese, fresh fruit and dessert from our trolley
Turkish Desserts
Cherry almond arte
Vanilla sauce
Chocolate banana tarte
Green tea parfait
Freshly brewed coffee and/or tea
Digestives from our trolley
Petits desserts
Breakfast - Second Service
Please make your choice for breakfast and hand over this form to one of our flight attendants before relaxing. Thank you!
Please choose from our selection
*Freshly squeezed orange juice
*Fresh carrot juice
*Strawberry smoothie
*Tomato juice
*Coffee
*Decaffeinated coffee
*Hot chocolate
*Black tea (Turkish blend) - With milk/With lemon
*Herbal tea selection
Please ask for the tea selections to cabin crew
*Milk
*Plain yoghurt
*Muesli yoghurt
*Turkey ham and beef pastrami
*Strawberry jam
*Honey
*Crème with scrambled eggs
Grilled vegetables / Sautéed potatoes / Cherry tomato
or
*Plain omelette
Sautéed mushrooms / Potatoes with parsley / Grilled green pepper / Cheery tomato
Additionally we serve:
*Seasonal fresh fruit plate
*Selection of cheese
*Ovenfresh bread selection
*Croissant
Beverages
White wines
2004 Kavaklidere Narince, Anatolia - Turkey
2006 Sevilen „R“ Rose, Aegean - Turkey
2005 Chablis Michel Laroche Chardonnay, France - Burgundy
Red wines
2004 Doluca Karma, Merlot-Bogazkere, Turkey
2005 Lamothe Pontac Medoc, Bordeaux, France
2004 Beronia Crianza Bodegas, Rioja, Spain
2003 Bodega Norton Privada, Mendoza, Argentina
2001 Graham‘s Late Bottled Vintage Port, Oporto, Portugal
Aperitifs
Gosset Brut Reserve, Champagne
Chivas Regal, Johnnie Walker Black Label, Jim Beam
Smirnoff Black Vodka
Gordon‘s Dry Gin
Efe Yas Üzüm Rakisi
Digestives
Grand Marnier, Bailey‘s
Turkish Liqueur (Sour Cherry)
Frapin VSOP
Glenlivet
Beers
Efes Pilsen, Carlsberg
Hot drinks
Black Tea, Herbal Tea Selections
Instant Coffee, Filter Coffee
Espresso, Cappuccino
Hot Chocolate
Juices
Orange, Sour Cherry, Tomato
Selection of sparkling soft drinks
|
The meal service
The food onboard was simply a culinary feast and the selection was most impressive!
Turkish Airlines has some of the best food I have ever tried in the air and with a slightly different presentation I would definitely compare it with some of the food I have had in international first class. It is just very good!
A female crew member passed through the cabin to take meal orders for the starter and main course and also asked if we wanted soup. She also took drink orders at the same time that were prepared at the business class bar.
Next the tables were set with white tablecloths. Hot towels were offered and another female flight attendant passed through the cabin with nice champagne cocktails and a nice selection of canapés.
As starter I chose the roast beef with vegetables which was served with three very delicious side dishes including sautéed beef and cucumber and white eggplant salad.
Breads were also offered from a basket and I tried a glass of the French Bordeaux wine with my meal.
As main course I chose the Sis kebab beef brochette with eggplant purée and rice which was absolutely superb, it was so good I could have asked for a section portion, but as it was also very filling and I was starting to feel rather full I dedided not to.
The tables were cleared and the dessert cart passed through the cabin, again we are really talking about some real culinary highlights.
The dessert buffet had everything from green tea ice cream to fresh tropical fruit, Turkish desserts, cherry almond tarte and chocolate banana tarte.
Just the ice cream was interesting enough - green tea flavour! How often do you see something like that on an airplane menu? Or in any restaurant/bar/cafe for that matter? I had never tried it before, but I can tell it was exquisite!
It is a shame I did not take a photo of the cart as it was quite something, however I did take a photo of the cart when it passed a second time offering petits desserts and coffee, tea and liqueurs.
I had a hard time to choose among the desserts and actually asked the FA to put a bit of (nearly) everything on my plate, which ended up being two plates as everything could not fit on one plate.
I skipped the coffee though and really could not manage the petits fours after everything I had already eaten. My stomach was nearly bursting after the meal service.
Pics
The TK champagne cocktail and canapés
Appetizer, very nice!
Main course, also very nice
Dessert and fresh fruit
A closer look at the delicious desserts
A flight attendant serving coffee, tea, liqueurs and petits fours from a cart
The service onboard
Despite a nice meal service with some really great food I regretfully cannot say the same thing about all parts of the service.
I don’t like complaining about service for the sake of complaining, I really don't, but the service onboard just was not up to par and a slight contrast to the service on the outbound leg and an even bigger contrast to the flawless Asiana flight a few hours earlier. But let’s stick to the facts.
First of all when taking meal orders the FA asked if I wanted to soup, the asparagus soup sounded nice so I told her yes please.
After the tray with the starter had been removed the main course arrived almost straight away, but no sign of any soup and no explanation/excuse/comment whatsoever about it.
I thought for a second if I should perhaps ask what happened to the soup but decided not to as I had already got my main course, it was late and I did not want to wait another ten minutes for them to prepare the presumably forgotten soup.
I tried to recall the moment when the meal order was taken, if there could have been a misunderstanding, but I really can’t see that actually happened.
My second complaint is the complete lack of top-ups of beverages. Everything except for the initial drink order had to be asked for and that included a second glass of wine and a second glass of water.
To me it’s quite remarkable that during a two hour meal service nobody even thought about asking me if I wanted anything more to drink, not even when the glasses were empty.
OK I can possibly understand the wine since it was very late, but the water? Even on the shortest routes I have flown with the most rushed and basic business class service onboard they tend to at least top-up water since it’s a well-known fact you need to drink a lot of water when flying.
Maybe I’m picky, but there shouldn’t have to be empty glasses during a main meal service on a longhaul business class flight, especially not with a 35% load.
Although the crew was quite friendly the service felt badly organised, rushed and somewhat amateurish from time to time. A real shame since the hard product and the food are very good!
The seat, and time for some sleep
The seat was very nice and spacious and the blue pillow and duvet were soft and comfortable. As the adjacent seat was empty there was certainly no lack of space during the flight.
The Turkish Airlines seat is not fully flat but lie-flat but I still found it very comfortable when reclined.
I had no problems whatsoever to sleep onboard and got about seven hours proper sleep and was in surprisingly good shape when I got off the plane (given the circumstances...).
I reviewed the seat quite thoroughly on the outbound flight Istanbul-Seoul, but due to the light load I could take a few more photos during this flight which have been posted below.
Pics
The Turkish Airlines business class seat
The seat control
Passengers getting some rest in the cabin
The inflight entertainment system
Again very good, full AVOD with an extensive selection of movies, documentaries and music.
I watched the movie “New in town” during the meal service, partly fun, partly stupid, but it worked quite well at 1 am after a few drinks.
The cockpit cameras are also a nice feature, although using them only really make good sense on the ground and during climb/descent.
Pics
Press any key to start the inflight entertainment system
The main menu
The selection of Blockbuster movies
ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits
Breakfast
Two hours before landing the cabin lights were turned on and the crew started preparing for the breakfast service.
Personally I think they could have waited a bit longer, 60-90 minutes before landing is quite optimal so passengers can sleep a bit longer. The breakfast service is usually rather quick anyway.
Tablecloths were again laid on the tables and hot refreshing towels and fruit juices were offered in the cabin.
There was a breakfast form to complete before going to bed and I think the concept worked very well. I am sure there are always one or two persons on every flight who prefer to wait until the morning to decide what they want for breakfast, but for me it was not at all a problem.
In contrast I think the breakfast form made the breakfast service both quicker and smoother for both the crew and the passengers, it is in fact quite cool when the FA comes to your seat in the early morning with your individual breakfast tray.
For my cold breakfast I had chosen a strawberry smoothie, plain yoghurt and black coffee.
The breakfast tray also contained a plate with fresh fruits and some cheese and cold cuts. The crew made several rounds with warm breads.
For my hot breakfast I had chosen the crepe with scrambled eggs with potatoes, green grilled pepper and cherry tomatoes, which was tasty and filling.
Tables were cleared and hot towels were again offered in the cabin.
Just like on all other overnight flights during this trip I had brought and used my grey ANA sleeper pants during the night to sleep more comfortably.
So after the breakfast service it was time to change back to my regular clothes and I also took the opportunity to freshen up a bit after a long night.
Pics
Flying over Georgia, soon time for some breakfast
The business class cabin coming to life
Cold breakfast: Yoghurt, fresh fruit, coffee and a smoothie
Hot breakfast
Arrival in Istanbul
We started our descent somewhere along the northern coast of Turkey, with the slow descent rate of the Airbus A340 it takes a fair amount of time to bring this aircraft down from 40,000 feet.
My jacket was returned and I collected my belongings for landing. When retracing my seat somehow my seatbelt got stuck in the seat mechanism, I thought that would be easy to fix but I eventually had to give up and two flight attendants were needed to get it up so I could be properly fastened for landing.
Despite a somewhat late departure from Seoul we arrived nearly on time in Istanbul just after 6 am.
We made our descent over the Asian part of Istanbul where I could spot Istanbul Sabina Gokcen airport (also used by Turkish Airlines for domestic flights) before we made our final descent over the sea for runway 36R at Atatürk airport where we landed at 6.05 am, 15 minutes behind timetable.
Door 2L was used for disembarkation, right between business class and economy class, and quite nicely two flight attendants were blocking the aisles so business class passengers could get off first.
Pics
Early morning somewhere over Turkey
Approaching Istanbul according to the flight map
The Asian part of Istanbul. You can spot Sabina Gokcen airport in the photo, the second airport of Istanbul used mainly for domestic and charter flights
Lots of vessels anchored outside Istanbul
Second before touchdown, the view from the cockpit
Nice sunrise after just having landed at Istanbul Atatürk airport
Conclusion
Turkish Airlines is on the whole a very good airline and they are struggling hard to become a premium carrier and should absolutely get credit for that, however they also need to make sure their service concept is consistent.
Although the food onboard was quite amazing and the seat, cabin interior and inflight entertainment system perfect and spotless the service left some parts to be desired.
Personally I think the FAs are perfectly capable of providing a world-class service, TK just needs to work on the coordination onboard and a try to better divide tasks and areas of responsibility between the crew members.
There is no point to have four FAs delivering meals if no one takes on the task to check if glasses are empty. It’s all about focusing on the details really!
I’m sure with a growing network and an increasing number of passengers they will eventually grasp these smaller details as well.
I will definitely fly with them again if the price is right and the timetable appropriate.
