I had a nice afternoon in sunny Istanbul before returning back to the airport. I was tempted to do some shopping in the nice Grand Bazaar, but refrained from doing so as I would have enough to carry around anyway,.
Once at the airport I took the shuttle bus to the hotel, freshened up a bit and repacked my stuff, a quick cup of coffee, and returned back to the airport on the 7 pm shuttle bus.
A Turkish Airlines premium departure experience at Istanbul Atatürk airport
A quick five minutes drive and we arrived at the international terminal where the driver dropped me off.
Standard at most Turkish airports is that you need to pass security before entering the terminal, and that was also the case at Atatürk airport.
I saw a large sign at Entrance D where it said THY (standard abbreviation for Turkish Airlines), but as I approached it I noticed there was a second entrance just behind it, Entrance E, where it said “THY Business Class, First Class, Prime Class”, which sounded more appropriate for me.
As I got to the entrance a man greeted me and asked if I was flying in business class, I told him yes but he told me he needed to see a ticket or booking confirmation.
As I started looking for it in my bag he noticed the baggage tag on my suitcase where it says Star Alliance Gold, and that turned out to be enough evidence to let me inside.
So in conclusion I guess Star Golds can use this entrance as well.
The security check was a standard metal detector and an x-ray machine where you had to have both your checked luggage and hand luggage screened.
With no one in line I was inside the terminal building within 30 seconds, the airport was rather empty this early evening so I am sure the security screening would have been nearly as quick at the other entrances, but on a busy morning this would probably have been much more appreciated.
Pics
Turkish Airlines designated entrances/security checks, you can see Entrance E for premium passengers in the background
The Turkish Airlines premium check-in area was right in front of Entrance E, four business class desks were manned and not a single person in line for any of them.
A friendly young woman greeted me and quickly checked me in. I was slightly worried they would not let me check-in this early since there were over 4 hours until the departure time of my flight, but that was not an issue.
A priority tag was attached to my suitcase without having to ask for it and I received a printed personalised invitation to the TK business class lounge.
I had already pre-booked seat 02K for the flight, so she just confirmed I was happy with my seat assignment.
Next to the business class check-in desks was the single TK first class check-in desk, really standing out from the rest of the check-in area with a blue carpet and blue curtains.
TK now operates a first class service to a handful destinations in Asia and the US using 3 Boeing 777 aircrafts leased from Jet Airways.
The check-in desk was unmanned so I guess there were no more departures this evening with a first class cabin onboard.
Pics
Turkish Airlines Business class and Star Gold check-in, very empty this evening!
Turkish Airlines First class check-in
Just around the corner from the TK premium check-in area was the passport control with a fast track lane.
If I remember correctly the sign said TK first class and business class passengers were entitled to use it, I think Star Golds were also allowed to use it if flying TK (but probably not other *A carriers). A man was standing at the entrance checking eligibility.
Just like the airport in general the passport control was very empty and the officer in charge of the premium line was actually standing outside of his booth chatting with a colleague and had to go back inside when I arrived.
On the whole the departure experience as a Turkish Airlines business class passenger at Istanbul airport was completely relaxed and hassle-free.
This was a quiet evening and I guess economy class passengers found the experience rather swift as well, but from my experience of IST on a busy morning with an overcrowded terminal all these facilities would have been very appreciated.
Well done TK!
Pics
Turkish Airlines economy class check-in, far more people in line here
Turkish Airlines CIP lounge, Istanbul
The Turkish Airlines lounge is on the immediate left after passport control, just a short walk away. I handed over my lounge invitation at the reception and was allowed inside.
This lounge is a really nice lounge and is definitely on my list of one of the best Star Alliance lounges worldwide.
It’s large and spacious with an interesting design and lots of fun features.
I visited the lounge last year and reviewed it quite extensively in my previous trip report. On this visit there seemed to have been some minor changes, some furniture had been replaced for example, but otherwise everything looked the same.
Food is very good in the lounge with hot food, lots of vegetables, bread and pastries, packaged sandwiches, yoghurt, fruits, snacks and desserts.
I had not had any dinner so was happy to be able to make myself a rather decent dinner with some proper substantial hot food and vegetables. Rather tasty as well…
Just opposite the main lounge area there was a bar counter with a good selection of wine, beer and spirits. Unfortunately comparing it with my previous visit it seems like the selection of sprits had been downgraded a bit.
As for the whiskies they last year had Johnnie Walker, Ballantines and Famous Grouse, this had been reduced to only one brand on this visit, the much more low-key Cutty Sark. Same thing with the gin and vodka bottles which were now some local brands.
Just a reflection from my side, some people may not even bother much about this
On the other hand they had a nice banana liqueur which I tried with my coffee, very yummy!
The lounge has a separate room with six internet computers with free internet access, there are also two printers there you can use for free.
The lounge has a wifi service available but unfortunately it only works for Turkish citizens with a subscription to a local internet provider, foreign guests will need to use the lounge computers.
I spent about three hours in this lounge having drinks and watching some documentaries on my laptop.
Around 9-10 pm the lounge got much more crowded with many transit passengers arriving from all over Europe connecting to one of the late evening flights to Asia and the Middle East.
As the sun set outside the lounge many of the lights in the lounge were turned on creating a very nice and cosy atmosphere in the lounge.
Pics
The entrance to the Turkish Airlines lounge
Inside the vast lounge
Self-service buffet: Salad and vegetables
Self-service buffet: Bread and pastries
Self-service buffet: Sandwiches
Self-service buffet: Yoghurt and desserts
A rather nice lounge dinner
The bar area and departure monitors
A closer look at the bar area
Selection of spirits available
The lounge area with Turkish art and large chandeliers
The corridor leading to the business centre and restrooms
Evening ambience in the lounge
Nice evening lighting creating a very nice atmosphere
A walk around the transit hall
With a long overnight flight coming up I left the lounge around an hour before departure to stretch my legs a bit in the transit hall.
The transit hall is very modern and spacious with some very nice tax-free shops. Unfortunately the prices aren’t always the most competitive, Turkish candies for example can often be found cheaper in downtown Istanbul, but in some cases bargains can indeed be found.
Around 45 minutes before departure the monitors indicated we should proceed to the gate, located at the far end of the terminal.
Pics
Nice tax-free shopping in Istanbul
Everybody loves duty free…apparently
Lots of late evening departures to Asia and Middle East
Boarding
Security takes place at the gate in Istanbul. The standard set-up is that there is one gate area for every two gates and two metal detectors/x-rays at the entrance to each gate area.
There was another flight departing from our gate area to a destination in the Middle East (can’t remember which one) almost at the same time meaning two screening stations got a bit insufficient to process roughly 400 passengers in a short period of time. Unfortunately there was no such thing as a premium line either.
I arrived at the gate quite early so was through security fairly quickly.
Boarding started 30 mins before departure, with the exception of an elderly woman being allowed to board first there was just one general boarding call for all passengers.
Only one passenger bridge in use for door 2L and after being greeted at the door I turned left for the business class cabin.
I was one of the first passengers onboard and had the opportunity to take some photos of the cabin before most other business class passengers came onboard.
The aircraft that would take us to Seoul was an Airbus A340 named Mersin.
The business class cabin had a 2-2-2 configuration with six rows, except for the centre seats that only had five rows. That makes 34 seats in total and I think almost all seats were occupied on this flight.
In front of the centre rows there was a rather nice-looking bar counter where FAs prepared drinks during the flight, when boarding there was a bottle of champagne there waiting to be opened.
The cabin was modern, bright and spotlessly clean and gave a very good first impression.
Once seated a female FA approached me and offered to take my jacket. A few minutes later the bottle of champagne was opened in front of me and I had my first glass of bubbles onboard. Passengers who do not appreciate the delights of champagne could get some orange juice or water instead.
Turkish and international newspapers were handed out followed by Turkish Airlines slippers and a red amenity kit from L’Occitane.
The amenity kit is definitely one of the better I have got in business class. Other than the standard earplugs, eyeshades and a toothbrush it also contained miniature bottles of L’Occitane eau de cologne, L’Occitane body lotion and L’Occitane lip balm.
Pics
The Airbus A340 at the gate in Istanbul
The business class cabin onboard
The business class bar counter, with a bottle of champagne waiting to be opened
Finally I get my pre-departure bubbles
Amenity kit and slippers
Istanbul-Seoul/Incheon, flight TK 90 operated by Turkish Airlines
Departure: 23:45
Arrival: 15:50
Aircraft: Airbus A340-300
Class: Business Class
Seat: 02K
We pushed back slightly late at midnight. Surprisingly many departures around midnight, we were number 5 for take-off according to the captain.
Turkish Airlines has a very nice feature onboard so you can follow taxi, take-off and landing from the pilot’s view, in fact all screens in the cabin were automatically switched to this view during taxi (which I certainly did not mind).
We finally took off at 00.20 from runway 36R, a right turn was made and I enjoyed a superb view of Istanbul and the Bosphorus during the usual slow climb of the Airbus A340.
Pics
Take-off roll, pilot‘s view
The view seconds after take-off
Fantastic evening view of downtown Istanbul and the Bosphorus
The menu
After the seatbelt sign had been switched off the inflight service started almost immediately and hot towels and menus were distributed to all passengers.
The menu was available in a silver-coloured binder and I was very impressed to see the menu was personalised and had my name and seat number on it.
As far as I can remember this is the only airline where I have ever got a personalised menu onboard, that rarely even happens in international first class.
The left page of the menu contained the drink list. A rather decent selection with 3 whites, 4 reds, port, and plenty of spirits and soft drinks.
The middle page contained the a la carte menu for the main meal service.
Two choices of appetizer, salad or soup, three choices of main course, and an excellent selection of desserts.
The right page contained the options for the breakfast service.
You fill this in yourself, ticking the box next to the cold cuts, drinks, yoghurt and hot item you want for breakfast. Then you write your name and seat number on top of the form (actually already written on the menu for me) and hand it over to the crew before going to bed.
In the morning you get your personalised breakfast service from the crew.
Luckily I remembered to take a photo of the breakfast menu before giving it to the crew so you can also see below what the breakfast options were.
Overall a superb menu, personalised with a nice layout and excellent choices!!
Pics
The very nice and personalised business class menu
Quote:
Menu Istanbul-Seoul
A la Carte Menu - First Service
Potpourri of Mediterranean Meze
White eggplant salad / Grilled chicken breast
Cherry tomato & frisse
or
Salmon Carpaccio
Herbed Caesar‘s dressing / Marinated prawn / Arugula and frisse
***
Stuffed zucchini, eggplant and wine leaf in olive oil
Yoghurt with cucumber
Gardenfresh seasonal salad
and / or
Potato leek soup
Olive croutons
***
Please choose from our selection:
Grilled sea bream fillet
Sauteed tomatoes with olive / grilled zucchini
Herbed potatoes
or
Lamb chops
Roasted red peppers / anna potato
or
Sautéed minced beef
Mixed vegetables / sautéed leaf spinach
Steamed rice
***
Assorted cheese, fresh fruit and dessert from our trolley
Turkish desserts
"Samsa & Hosmerim & Sam tatlisi" with clotted cream
Tiramisu
Chocolate souffle
Ganache sauce
Coconut ice cream
Marinated berries
Freshly brewed coffee and/or tea
Digestives from our trolley
DEMEL‘s petits desserts
Breakfast
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
*Home made smoothie
*Tomato juice
*Coffee
*Decaffeinated coffee
*Hot chocolate
*Black tea (Turkish blend) - With milk/With lemon
*Milk
*Homemade yoghurt with apple mousse
*Muesli & fruit yoghurt
*Smoked turkey breast
*Apricot jam
*Strawberry jam
*Honey
*Scrambled eggs, herbed grilled tomatoes, Turkish savoury stuffed with spicy sausage
or
*Scrambled eggs with tomato & green pepper, Turkish style cheese pastry, Turkish style spinach pastry, grilled pepper, cherry 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
In one word: Excellent!
After the menus had been distributed white tablecloths were laid on all tables and the TK signature cocktails were offered with a nice selection of canapés.
The cocktail is a mix of fresh orange juice and champagne decorated with some exotic fruits, quite tasty.
As appetizer I had the potpourri of Mediterranean Meze which was not bad at all, rather proving how delicious Middle-Eastern food can be.
I then had the potato leek soup to eat followed by the sautéed minced beef with steamed rice, also with a rather oriental flavour and an excellent choice.
I had red wine to drink with the meal, the Spanish Rioja wine which worked quite well with my meal choices.
The tables were cleared and the dessert trolley passed through the cabin.
This was almost the biggest surprise of the meal service, the selection was immense!! The dessert buffet contained several types of cheese, Turkish desserts, ice cream, tiramisu, tropical fruits, berries and chocolate soufflé.
I could have tried all of it but probably would not have managed after everything I had already eaten. I decided to limit myself to the excellent coconut ice cream and some fresh fruit.
A few minutes later the dessert trolley passed a second time offering coffee, tea and liqueurs, accompanied by some lovely petits fours.
The service onboard was overall very good, friendly and attentive and the meal service felt well coordinated with an optimal amount of time between every dish.
All drinks were prepared and poured at the bar counter in front of the business class cabin which looked very elegant. After the bottles had been used they were placed on the shelves behind the counter.
My only complaint about the meal service is that I had to ask for drinks and refills a few times, including top-up of water. My requests were naturally taken care of straight away, but having my glass of water (or wine) refilled is something I think should happen automatically in international business class.
Overall this was one of the best meals I have ever had in the air. With a slightly more personalised and polished service this meal service could easily be used for international first class in my opinion.
Excellent job Turkish Airlines!!
Pics
Cocktail and capanés
Appetizer
Soup
Main course
Dessert
The business class bar in full use
Some liquor after the meal
The seat
As mentioned there are 34 business class seats on the Airbus A340.
The seats are lie-flat with a 54” seat pitch, similar seats to those I have tried in SAS and Lufthansa business class.
The seat had several excellent features such as storage for newspapers, shoes and a bottle of water. There was also a power socket which worked very well, although I had to use an adapter to be able to use it with my laptop.
One aspect to mention is also that passengers are not allowed to store anything in front of the seat during take-off and landing, all hand luggage must be placed in the overhead bins. If you have a lot of hand luggage it’s a good idea to board early.
Overall the seat was very comfortable and with the nice blue duvets and pillows that were provided I got a few hours of proper sleep onboard and was actually in a reasonably good shape when disembarking in Seoul.
Before going to bed I changed into the grey pyjamas pants that I got in ANA F-class during my round the world trip. They are really comfortable and it has almost become a tradition to bring those on longhaul trips. It’s nice not having to sleep in the regular clothes, you really feel the difference the next day.
Pics
The Turkish Airlines business class seat
Seat control
Laptop power socket
Shoe storage, clearly marked which one to be used by which passenger
Storage for bottles of water
Passengers getting some proper sleep in business class
Inflight entertainment system
Another positive surprise was the inflight entertainment system, of course AVOD.
The selection of movies, documentaries, sitcoms and music was very extensive. Other than a large number of recent movies they also had some old/classical ones and some foreign ones from India and China.
Among the documentaries on offer I found one about the cars of James Bond (interesting for me who is a fan since birth) and several excellent travel programs.
I’d reckon 150-200 full music albums were available covering most music genres. Very nicely the album cover of each album was also displayed on the screen while playing.
There was also a decent selection of games.
In the information menu the cockpit camera could be accessed during the flight (both aft and forward) and there was a lot of info about TK such as the fleet, transit info, the frequent flyer program, IST airport map and a very good fully updated world news and weather service.
The flight map was also one of the better ones I have come across, it could also be zoomed and rotated, which was quite fun.
Pics
Inflight entertainment menu
The selection of “entertainment” options
Interesting documentary about the cars of James Bond
Supertramp, Live in Paris, and they have even a photo of the album cover!
Breakfast service
Two hours before landing the lights were turned on in the cabin and the breakfast service (or brunch service perhaps) started.
Hot towels were handed out followed by water and orange juice.
White tablecloths were once again laid on the tables and the meal trays were distributed, they had been created individually based on what you had indicated on the breakfast form the night before.
The tray contained the “cold breakfast”, in my case I had chosen a smoothie, coffee and yoghurt with apple mousse. The tray also contained some cold cuts, cheese and vegetables and a bowl with fresh fruit. The crew offered warm bread from a basket.
The plates were collected and the hot item delivered, I had chosen scrambled eggs with some kind of Turkish filled pastry. Quite OK, certainly a bit different from the usual hot breakfast you get onboard airplanes.
More coffee and tea were offered before the tables were cleared.
Pics
Approaching Beijing and the lights are turned on in the cabin for the breakfast service
Some facts about the flight, flying at 37,000 feet with 1h 50mins to go
Excellent cold breakfast
Hot breakfast
Arrival at Seoul Incheon airport
After the breakfast service I went into the lavatory to freshen up and change back to my regular clothes, small things that make quite a big difference at the end, both in the way you feel and look.
We started our descent to Seoul shortly after leaving the Chinese coastline, as many of you know the Airbus A340 has a very slow rate of climb and descent and it takes quite some time to bring this aircraft down from 37,000 feet.
Hot towels were again handed out before the cabin was prepared for landing.
We made our final approach over those nice islands west of Seoul and then made a left turn to align with the runway.
Interestingly no part of the flight took place in North Korean airspace as far as I could see, that would probably have shortened the flight time a few minutes.
We finally touched down on runway 34 at Seoul Incheon airport just after 4 pm and taxied to the new A-concourse of the international terminal requiring all passengers to take a take a train to the main terminal building.
Two passenger bridges were in use and all business class passengers could disembark through door 1L. The crew seemed to have forgotten to return jackets and coats to passengers before landing so they started doing it after the seatbelt sign had been switched off, which did not work very well.
After the breakfast service a Korean health declaration form was handed out to all passengers onboard which we had to complete. There were questions covered things like if we were or had been suffering from fever or any kind of pains in the past days, that could be symptoms of the swine flu.
At the gate a team of five was waiting to check the health declaration form for each passenger before letting us enter the terminal, all of them wearing masks.
In case of any suspicious passengers they were taken aside for questioning and further medical checks. Inside the terminal we also had to pass a type of x-ray machine checking the body temperature of all arriving passengers.
They had really taken some extensive measures, which at the end is for our own safety.
I was one of the first passengers to arrive at immigration which was quite fast with a friendly officer behind the desk.
Baggage delivery started shortly after I arrived at the baggage belt with only priority-tagged luggage in the first bag, I think my suitcase was the 8th bag to arrive on the belt.
Getting from Incheon airport to central Seoul is still a bit of a hassle.
There are lots of limousine buses that cover most of Greater Seoul, but with drivers speaking limited English and me not knowing what the area looks like where I had to get off it did not seem like a good option.
There is also an excellent airport express train, but so far is only goes to Gimpo airport where you have to change to the underground. The extension from Gimpo to downtown Seoul has not been completed yet.
Still I chose the train option since the underground line from Gimpo would pass a station just five minutes from my hotel for the night. The airport transfer took 90 minutes in total.
Pics
Approach over the Yellow Sea
Just landed at Incheon airport with the terminal building in the background
Conclusion
Needless to say a very good flight, if Turkish Airlines can just do this on and on again and make it a consistent product they should be regarded as one of the best carriers in the Star Alliance.
The dinner onboard was one of the best airplane meals I have had. Very tasty food and lots to choose between with some rather unusual dishes, a refreshing change from the usual stuff you get in the air. Very good selection of drinks as well and the selection of desserts was just wonderful. Top marks for the food and presentation!
The seat was very comfortable, although only lie-flat I slept very well onboard. Excellent inflight entertainment system as well, enough to keep you entertained during a large number of flights.
Ground services were also quite good, lots of premium facilities in Istanbul including a nice lounge. The priority tag has also worked well on the two completed TK flights.
The only room for improvement would be some parts of the service like topping up glasses without having to ask for it. I have too little experience of TK to know what the norm is, and after all this was an almost full business class cabin, so that’s for the future to see.
