Part 11: Istanbul (IST) to Almaty (ALA) on Turkish Airlines in business class
Flight TK284 – Airbus A330-300 – Seat 1D – 440 EUR for MSQ-IST-ALA
STD 8.35pm - STA 4.45am +1 (flight time 5h10m)

Unfortunately, Minsk flights are not on the list of “safe” arrivals at Istanbul airport, which means you are not fed directly into the gate area but first have to re-clear security. Fortunately, the new Istanbul airport has vastly improved on this front compared to the old Ataturk airport. Sure, walking distances can be long, but at least queues are almost non-existent – especially if you can use the priority line. As according to the schedule it would be more or less the final call for boarding for my Almaty flight, I however still had to run to make sure I would be able to catch the flight. As it departed from a faraway gate I was all sweaty by the time I arrived at the gate, only to realise that boarding had not even started yet..





It turned out that our plane has gone tech and that another A330 was being arranged to take us to Almaty. Unlucky for the other passengers waiting, but great news for me! As the gate agent said there would be about ten more minutes before boarding would commence, I even had time for a quick bathroom visit to change my sweaty t-shirt and freshen up a bit.

When boarding finally commenced, we were not led from the gate to the tarmac where buses were awaiting in front of the broken-down A330 to bring us to our new aeroplane.


Waiting on the tarmac for buses to arrive in front of our broken-down plane

We were driven a long, long way to the other side of Istanbul airport where our new Airbus A330 was waiting for us. I always love it to board a wide-body aeroplane by stairs.





Of the first busload to arrive, I was the only passenger in business class, which was a good opportunity to snap some pictures of the cabin. I had assigned myself seat 1D due to the middle seats being the only ones with direct aisle access in the 2-2-2 configuration where nobody else has to climb over you. Normally I might have still opted for a window seat, but I assumed that given the late departure time and early arrival views would anyway be non-existent.







The crew on this flight which would serve business class introduced themselves one-by-one to me in a genuinely friendly and welcoming manner. Turkish Airlines crews can at times be a mixed bunch – but this crew would again turn out to be excellent. As always, TK offers a choice of lemonade, cherry juice, orange juice and water as PDB. As I was dehydrated from the run across the airport, I opted for both a lemonade and a glass of water to quench my thirst.



At this time, other business class passengers slowly started to arrive with the following buses. In the end, business class was about two thirds full. And while I still opted for the airport toilets to change my shirt, these two gentlemen thought it would be a better idea to do it in full view in front of the entire cabin. Ugh.



When the crew distributed PDBs to other passengers, one of the flight attendants inquired if I might want something else as well – telling me that anything is possible. That's not a question I let myself asked twice. Champagne it is!



A while later the menus were distributed as well by the crew.



With a delay of about one-and-a-half hours, the doors were finally closed. Luckily, we were parked close to the runway and were airborne fast. The flight time to Almaty would take just over five hours.



Once we reached cruising altitude, the crew inquired for meal choices and did a drink run. I went for a G&T while watching a film about a bald, overweight man directing a movie.



Weirdly, the amount of food was less than on my previous intra-European flight. Unlike that MSQ-IST flight, this meal did not have a separate appetiser plate (or any appetiser as to speak of), but had everything placed on one tray with the addition of a small salad. Given its a short red-eye flight it is however understandable as it allows passengers to maximise sleep.

As I already had fish on my previous flight, I opted this time for the beef, which was a slight mistake as it was a bit tasteless and rock-hard being completely cooked to death. It was my first disappointing meal ever on TK in any class, which was a bit disappointing – especially as it is on a flight out of their hub and not something catered externally at an outpost. At least the lemon tart was very tasty.



As I wasn't really tired yet, I opted for another Turkish coffee and a cognac while watching the remainder of the film Hitchock.



I had no neighbour in the seat next to me so I opted to make up the bed already in seat 1E, using my own seat 1D for the remainder of the film.



I might even had another drink before finally being tired enough to sleep.





Despite the short flight time and wee bit of drinking after the meal I still managed to get almost two hours of sleep before we were woken up for the impending arrival into Almaty. Due to the delay, dawn was already breaking in Almaty when we landed to what looked like some spectacular mountain views. Even though my heart was kicking myself for not opting for a window seat, my mind knew that I made the right seat assignment and that there would be plenty of real mountain views to admire in the next few days anyway.

The arrival process was extremely smooth and within ten minutes after disembarking the plane through a jetbridge I was stamped into Kazakhstan for the second time in less than a year. After a bit of haggling with the armada of approaching taxi drivers I got a decent enough rate for the relatively short drive to my hotel to begin the Central Asian adventure for real.

Next up: Exploring the leafy Kazakh city of Almaty