We arrived in Istanbul shortly before midnight and it felt like it was rush hour there. The terminal was quite crowded, such was the only lounge TK operates there.
IST terminal
TK lounge IST
While the lounge is very impressive, and located on two levels, it was quite hard to find seats available. Lots of people were also sleeping a bit everywhere, maybe due to some long connecting times. Although I was not hungry, the buffet areas looked nice, with some freshly cooked « pide » (sort of Turkish pizza ?) prepared in front of you, and a selection of cakes, turkish sweets and olives.
TK lounge IST
Olive bar TK lounge IST
Pide station TK lounge IST
TV corner TK lounge IST
TK lounge IST
The lounge is organized in multiple areas, with some being a bit less expected to be found in an airport lounge, like a snooker table at the entrance, and nearby a mini-theater, and also a golf simulation green downstairs.
Library TK lounge IST
Golf simulator TK lounge IST
Mini-movie theater TK lounge IST
Kids corner, racing table TK lounge IST
TK lounge IST
Cake buffet TK lounge IST
Restrooms TK lounge IST
I heard that Istanbul will move most of the Ataturk operations to a newer airport at the end of the year. I therefore hope that the designers of the airport and TK have planned the available space accordingly, especially considering this would be the main flagship hub of the airline which flies to the most destinations worldwide…
Finally, I find surprising that this lounge closes everyday at 2am, with most of the buffets already empty by 1am. This is surprising considering they have flights departing throughout the night to various international destinations. According to the Star Alliance website, it reopens daily at 5am. Maybe this is to leave a few hours for the cleaning staff to refresh the lounge ? It was a bit messy at the end of the day to be honest...
The status of my flight to Jeddah suddently changed on the departure screens from nothing to « Last Call » 45 minutes before departure, so I rushed to the departure gate to find that boarding had indeed started a while ago and a line of passengers flying in coach was waiting to board…
