Leg 3: KTM to IST – First time on Turkish and a night in Istanbul

Turkish Airlines 727 KTM-IST, A330-200, Business Class, Seat 2K

Out of habit I always check the inbound flight for any morning departure before I go to bed, and in doing so discovered that my TK flight the next day would be delayed from 8:45 to 12:20. Luckily I’d been planning a 24 hours top in IST, so a more relaxed morning was worth the delay to me. When I woke they’d moved the departure up to 11:50, about 3 hours late, so I planned to get a taxi to the airport at 9:45am. I did this, but we were diverted by the police to a different route, and ultimately arrived at the airport around 10:25. By this point there was no longer any check-in counter for Turkish, but I was able to find someone to check me in just before they officially closed the flight. For some reason my long-reserved 2K seat had been reassigned to 3A, but upon request they were able to move me back to 2K. I was able to check through my now two bags (items purchased in Nepal and bringing back gear for my friends who were staying on the road) all the way to PDX, saving me the hassle of retrieving them, storing and re-checking in IST.

I quickly passed through customs, immigration, and a lax security set-up and made my way to the gate – no time for their lounge. Here I found a scrum of passengers waiting in a very basic gate area with doors onto the tarmac in front of our A330.



The gate staff seemed to have an incorrect count of boarding passes, which delayed the process a bit, but eventually the doors were opened and the passengers swarmed the two staircases at the front and rear of the plane. I was the first passenger into the business cabin, which gave me a chance to take some photos and settle in. I’d noticed that the KTM-IST flight seemed to have no issues with award availability so was not surprised when only 7 passengers boarded for the 28 seat cabin.



This A330, originally owned by MEA, was only 9 years old and has been in the TK fleet even less time, but it certainly seemed a bit shabby. The A330-200 seems primarily assigned to less important routes and this is the aircraft that KTM typically sees – though I’d been hoping to be victim of an aircraft substitution. While the A330-300 did make it to KTM for a day or two before my flight, it was the older -200 that I got to experience.

I have read a lot about the TK business experience on FlyerTalk so was excited to try it out. Boarding was completed and newspapers (from the day before) were offered from a cart. We taxied down the runway, turned a 180 at the end, and then powered up the engines for the roll and takeoff. It was cloudy and somewhat foggy in KTM, but after about a minute we passed through the clouds and were greeted with the spectacular sight of the Himalaya poking through the clouds to the north, with a great view out my windows. Several other passengers came to my side of the plane to take photos.





Unfortunately the electrical system in the seats wasn't working, so my plan to get a chunk of this trip report out of the way was not to be. Electricity in Nepal was few and far between (in Kathmandu it is regularly shut down for a few hours as part of load shedding) so my batteries on the laptop were out of juice. Instead I settled into some mindless films on the IFE (Runner Runner and Man of Steel), which was at least a month out of date. Oh well, at least you can’t fault an IFE has every Star Trek movie available on demand.



When the first meal came around, I was offered a choice of three hot entrees – a beef, pasta and a chicken. I opted for the beef, which was good – so was surprised when I got the exact same entrée for my second meal. When I asked the flight attendant if it was the same, she said no. I pulled out my camera to review the photos I’d taken a few hours earlier, and sure enough it was identical.


Starter, First Meal


First Hot Meal – Main Course


Second Meal (look familiar?)

Given the extremely light load I’d be surprised if they ran out of entrees – I’d guess the crew ate a few thus the repeat. I had a big dinner in Istanbul ahead, so didn’t really mind the return of the beef, but I find it a disappointing to have such an experience on airline trying to be one of the world’s best in a premium cabin. The FA later did return and apologize for answering incorrectly and confirm that it was the same entrée (though did not apologize for serving it as such).

Service was not terribly polished, and surprisingly inattentive considering the 7 passengers in the 28-seat cabin. While many others slept and I relaxed, the crew relaxed in the galley. It took proactive effort for me to get a drink on several occasions.

One of the parts of the flight I’d been looking forward to was the view out the window, as I was going to traverse a number of areas that I’d either never or previously had only flown over during the night, so didn’t plan to get much sleep. Instead I leisurely enjoyed my meal, read a book on my iPad, drank a few whiskies, caught a few movies, and looked out the window. The seat was completely adequate and it was a comfortable way to pass seven hours. It was fairly clear, so I got a great view of mountains in Turkmenistan and in Georgia as well as a good overhead perspective on Baku.


Hello Istanbul

Eventually we landed in Istanbul and taxied to the terminal. They held economy passengers before the business cabin exited. No line for the Visa on Arrival, a long line for the Business line at immigration. It still took less than 25 minutes from landing to be in a taxi heading towards the old town of Istanbul.

Istanbul is a great city for a layover. I’d first visited two years ago with my family, so I was content to simply wander the neighborhoods. I had a memorable meal with some old friends at an Istanbul institution, Hamdi, grabbed a few hours of sleep at a boutique hotel that was highlight rated on TripAdvisor (The Basileus Hotel) picked up treat at the Spice Bazar, stopped through a mosque or two -- before I knew it, I was in a taxi headed back toward Ataturk airport.