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-   -   No priority boarding at IST (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/turkish-airlines-miles-smiles/1939935-no-priority-boarding-ist.html)

DC10 Nov 10, 2018 4:31 pm

No priority boarding at IST
 
I traveled tonight trough Istanbul Airport (IST) and had bad ground experience. There was no separate boarding line for Business Class / Elite passengers and also no separate bus. I was a bit disappointed about it.

TPJ Nov 10, 2018 7:08 pm

Separate bus is only from the plane. I guess it is due to current infrastructure constraints. Maybe it would change with the new airport?

IAN-UK Nov 11, 2018 1:13 am


Originally Posted by DC10 (Post 30416329)
I traveled tonight trough Istanbul Airport (IST) and had bad ground experience. There was no separate boarding line for Business Class / Elite passengers and also no separate bus. I was a bit disappointed about it.



It's difficult to manage premium-class bussing to the aircraft. From the plane is simple because you have all the passengers nicely grouped and waiting.

For departures ,there'll always be one set of J-class passengers determined to be first on board, loitering around the gate for 10 minutes before boarding begins; others turn up during the boarding process, while a further group enjoy being among the last to board. Airlines (and the airports) don't want the inefficiency of running half empty busses in shuttles out to the stand - so the solution adopted at most places is to send all classes out on the same bus (as at Heathrow), or ask premium passenger to wait until the end of the boarding process so they can travel out together on "premium" transport.

This second strategy is wildly unpopular among the group who want/need to be the first on board, so it's seldom employed (it's something Qatar does for remote departures, though they keep tabs on the premium number checked into the gate area and send them off when they have the full complement, or a bus load of them).

A further variation is to use busses with a premium class section, the doors of which can be opened at the aircraft before the doors of the economy-class section. This isn't very efficient and I've seen it only among low-cost airlines anxious to preserve the "speedy boarding" experience that passengers have explicitly paid for,

DC10 Nov 11, 2018 3:25 am


Originally Posted by IAN-UK (Post 30417237)
It's difficult to manage premium-class bussing to the aircraft. From the plane is simple because you have all the passengers nicely grouped and waiting.

For departures ,there'll always be one set of J-class passengers determined to be first on board, loitering around the gate for 10 minutes before boarding begins; others turn up during the boarding process, while a further group enjoy being among the last to board. Airlines (and the airports) don't want the inefficiency of running half empty busses in shuttles out to the stand - so the solution adopted at most places is to send all classes out on the same bus (as at Heathrow), or ask premium passenger to wait until the end of the boarding process so they can travel out together on "premium" transport.

This second strategy is wildly unpopular among the group who want/need to be the first on board, so it's seldom employed (it's something Qatar does for remote departures, though they keep tabs on the premium number checked into the gate area and send them off when they have the full complement, or a bus load of them).

A further variation is to use busses with a premium class section, the doors of which can be opened at the aircraft before the doors of the economy-class section. This isn't very efficient and I've seen it only among low-cost airlines anxious to preserve the "speedy boarding" experience that passengers have explicitly paid for,

I understand that is hard to deliver priority boarding service at remote gates. I don’t mind sitting in Premium bus for few minutes and board last. Some airports will also board Premium class twice, as first and last bus which I also like.

I noticed only on Qatar Airways that they offer Welcome Drink, Newspapers and Purser introduction / welcome durring the boarding (Remote stand departure, A320/321 aircraft). All other airlines usually wait to complete boarding first. And this is also a factor why I prefere to spend few more minutes in the lounge and board last.



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