18wheeler_vanrekt

Are these planes found consistently on any routes in particular? The SimpleFlying article on their repainting seems to suggest they are sporadically used all over the place:

"1. TC-LGJ: was to be VP-BYE with Aeroflot; Currently in Istanbul for painting
2. TC-LGI: ex-VP-BXS; appeared this month in Hanoi, Stuggart, and Tel Aviv
3. TC-LGK: ex-VP-BYJ; Most recently seen in Ho Chi Minh City, Izmir, and Casablanca
4. TC-LGL: ex-VP-BYB; Serves Cape Town, Casabalanca and Amsterdam"

https://simpleflying.com/turkish-air...-airbus-a350s/

Hoping to fly one in May of this year, from Europe (or North Africa) to Asia

ISTFlyer

TK is known for last minute equipment changes and since your are planning to fly in May, I would not rely on the equipment type listed currently on sale.
I wish you good luck but I had an equipment change of an ex-SU A350-900 to an A321neo last minute on ESB-IST despite booking the ticket 3 days ago my travel date.

ttapps

I recently flew on one of the ex-Aeroflot A350s from Cape Town to IST, but it was a last minute change. My friends flew the same route 2 days earlier and had a 787-9 instead. Doesn't seem to be a set assignment pattern yet, and like the other poster mentioned, TK is always changing aircraft last minute.

ttapps

By the way, my experience in J class with the Aeroflot A350 was mixed.

The seats/pods were GREAT! Private (with the sliding doors), tons of storage space (nice closet to hang a jacket), and much wider footwells than the 787-9.

However, the tech was dreadful. There was no inflight map or even timing showing how long was remaining on the flight. No live TV like other flights. No wifi available. And very very few movies & shows available. Likewise, it seemed the cabin crew was still learning the new planes as service was very slow, and the menus did not match at all what was available to eat.

For me, the value of a business class flight is in the ability to sleep well long distance. For this reason I really enjoyed the plane. But, certainly the in-flight services need a big boost to match my experience on other TK flights.

SK AAR

My experience mirrors yours. I had the ex. Aeroflot A359 to TAS in J/C in Oct. It was a early AM/past midnight departure so I went straight to sleep (as the flight time was only 4 hours).

But the limited IFE was bad. I was trying to figure out where we were after waking up and to see the flight path that was used, but no inflight map as on "normal" TK aircrafts. Very annoying.
As mentioned there is no wifi. I didn't check the movie selection so can't comment on if limited compared to other TK aircrafts.

Overall I would prefer a "normal" TK A359 aircraft (I had TK A359 aircrafts to/from GRU in March/April) as I use the wifi extensively and also enjoy the inflight map.

MoPat

I flew with those airplanes twice in economy class.

- 11.12.2022 Istanbul - Hanoi.
- 30.12.2022 Ho-Chi-Minh-City - Istanbul.

My feelings were mixed too. Behind the business class, those airplanes have 24 seats which are called "Comfort Class" at Aeroflot.

Comfort Class seats at Aeroflot airplanes.

As Turkish Airlines don't have a "Comfort Class / Premium Economy Class" those seats are counted as Economy Class. During the seat selection while or after booking the ticket, you can choose those seats with an extra charge. I select a regular seat in the economy class. As I am TK-Elit they changed my seat to the "Comfort Class" during the check-in process. The seats are really nice and comfortable.

I couldn't believe, that a brand new aircraft came without Wi-Fi which is really nice to have or even needed on long haul flights.

For the reason that most probably Turkish Airlines will change my seat to the "Comfort Class" while flying in economy, I would like to have those airplanes again. But THY really should set up Wi-Fi in those airplanes.

nacho

At least they have pillows! I flew IAH-IST last month and there was no pillow in Y.

BobFF68

Had a short experience too on TK1873 IST-MXP in J last November that is normally served by A321 and randomly A330, with one day notice the flight it was changed with ex Aeroflot A350. Same as already mentioned I liked the wide seat, I'm not not a fan of doors but this just my personal taste, sure the IFE system is underwhelming vs TK standard, short selection of movies, no live TV, no games, no maps, in case of long flight better to consider your own alternatives. Cabin ambiance and colors a bit dull/boring, plenty of storage, seat cabinet for jacket nice to see but probably mostly useless, anyway here always YMMV.

On the return TK1876 ten days later I also had the chance to try the B787 (here normally is A330 and A321, it was changed to 787 only that specific day few weeks before the trip) which I also liked, while I'm definitely not a big guy I have to agree the lack of space especially at shoulder level due to the hard seat shell.

Stewie Mac

Flight to CPT next week is showing up as one of these ex-Aeroflot A350s... as an A3 *G, is there any way of getting the comfort class seats? Ask nicely at airport checkin? Experiences?

ISTFlyer

Yes, ask for one at check-in as the agents could assign them or alternatively, pay for them in advance if the system allows.

kaspars

So is there no idea whether/when TK will upgrade the entertainment and WiFi as per their usual standard? it looks quite simple to me...

taylan

TK's IFE and wi-fi was present in the plane when I flew ex-Aeroflot A350 on AMS-IST route (march'23)

fil_87

Just flew Istanbul to Chicago on one of these A350s. I confirm Elite & Elite Plus card holders can get one of the ‘Aeroflot Premium Economy’ seats for free at check-in: again, since TK has no Premium Economy anymore, the service is the same as ‘regular’ Economy, though the seat is of course wider and very comfortable I have to say. Also, the plane has TK WifFi onboard and regular TK IFE. Something I find weird: all toilets for Eco are rather in the back part of the plane, which is annoying. My previous long-haul flight with TK in Eco was before Covid and I now noticed that, compared to pre-Covid: 1) meal portions are smaller; 2) movies selection is still good but not as great as it used to be. Also, the recently introduced free WiFi messaging onboard but reduced the Internet data cap for Elite & Elite Plus sitting in Economy to 400MB (used to be 1GB). Overall, great crew onboard.

Stewie Mac

Thanks ISTFlyer, didn't pay for the seat as the system wanted $158, but after being 'auto-assigned' something like 48B (was on cheapo-fly ticket with no seat selection) went to checkin desk at LHR for my connecting flights, asked nicely and got 8D. [that's for a non-TK *G]

f0zzyNUE

End of March I was on one of the Aeroflot A350 on AMS-IST - the A350 was scheduled for a long time. We had WiFi and internet connection in the air, crew was cool - suite looked smallish - but when you sat down it was OK.
It's just a pity that the privacy shield on the center seats is huge and only half of the space between the seats is open - the other (front) half is still a wall.