My colleague, let’s call him the boisterous burly Bavarian, is a great fan of Turkish Airlines. Me, not such much. My last experience with them was quite a few years back, and frankly, I wasn’t too impressed. But I’m willing to give them another try. Besides, Turkish Airlines via Istanbul was simply the fastest option to where I’m going.
Check-In
I arrive at the airport just after 09h15 for my 11h00 departure. There are three Economy class counters and one Business Class counter. Next to me, another passenger is being checked in. The agent hands him his boarding pass and he tells her, “about the seat. I want exit and Business Class”. Eh… right… My suitcase is checked all the way to its final destination, and then I make my way to security.
Alas, there’s a flight to Banja Luka, one to Tuzla, and another to Pristina leaving roughly around the same time as the Turkish Airlines flight I’m on. The priority lane has morphed into the family lane, which is inconvenient if you consider the aforementioned destinations, because there are screaming kids literally everywhere!
The Swissport Skyview Lounge
In contrast, the lounge seems awfully quiet. I’m guessing most business travellers aren’t back yet after the Christmas holiday. I check out the hot buffet, which has an interesting breakfast spread of omelettes, baked beans, bacon and sausages, and… vegetable soup?
Just after 10h00, the inbound from Istanbul pulls onto its stand. Normally, I would step outside to take a photo. But unfortunately, the part of the terrace closest to my aircraft is closed off. So instead, I exit the lounge and make a detour to the Schengen gates to take a photo before heading to passport control.
Boarding
About two years ago, they installed automated passport readers at passport control for both arrivals and departures. The interesting things is, though, that they’ve never actually been used. This being France, I’m guessing it has something to do with some union or other…
Boarding starts at 10h25. There is a separate line for passengers with priority. By the looks of it, the flight isn’t overly busy in Business Class.
The Cabin & Seat
Turkish Airlines has a dedicated Business Class cabin with four rows installed on this A 321. The cabin looks sharp and fresh and has that smell of new car. It’s a very nice cabin. The seat pitch is excellent! There is one passenger seated on 1F, in front of me.
Each seat has its own video screen and an electricity plug. There is also 1GB of complimentary wifi for Business Class passengers.
The Service & Crew
I count six crew in the cabin, of which two – the male purser and a young lady – are serving the Business Class cabin, resulting in a 1/1 ratio of cabin crew to passengers. They’re all friendly enough, but they are evidently hampered, for the most part, by their apparent lack of functional English. As a result, the interaction with the crew is slightly awkward and stilted. While we’re still on the ground, the crew pass through the cabin with a choice of still water, lemonade and a strawberry drink. They also hand out earphones and the menu for today’s flight.
Boarding is quickly completed, so that we push back from the gate ten minutes ahead of schedule. As we taxi to the runway, we pass a Flydubai B 737 Max on a remote stand. From what I gather, the route has not been doing overly well.
We take off in a southerly direction towards the city, and then make a sharp right turn over Allschwil, which brings us back over the airport. We cross the Rhine and enter into Germany, flying along the border with Switzerland towards Lake Constance.
The Meal – Lunch
The meal service starts rather unceremoniously. I’m busy logging in to the wifi network and when I look up, the purser is standing there holding my tray, but not saying a word. And I must say, the meal service is really something else. It looks more like a long-haul meal. The tray is brought out with the starters, the cheese and the dessert. The starter is absolutely lovely and tastes delicious. The eggplant goes very well with the olives and the tomato sauce. And it’s nicely presented too!
There are three choices for the main course – beef, fish or pasta. I go with the pasta, which is filled with ricotta and served with grilled asparagus in a rich creamy sauce.
The dessert I don’t try, mainly because I’m already quite full. To conclude the meal, I ask for a coffee with milk and another sparkling water.
For the remainder of the flight I just recline my seat and actually nod off to sleep until we reach the top of descent. The space in this seat is simply stupendous!
Arrival in Istanbul
Our flight time to Istanbul is two hours and forty minutes. The descent is circuitous, and brings us in for the approach over the Black Sea.
We land and then taxi for over ten minutes until eventually we pull onto our stand in the tip of one of the piers. The terminal is enormous and I have no idea where I am. I disembark and follow the signs for arrivals and transfer. And then I start walking. And I walk, and walk…
I lol’d at the comment about the electronic customs, because it’s probably true. The ones at CDG work, though I’ve never seen them used.
There’s probably an EU law stating that you have to have the machines available at the border, but not that you have to enable access to them.
Turkish is one of those airlines I never got the fanboys drooling over aspect. Yeah, it’s a good airline, buut not quite the best. Even the food,which avgeeks rave about, I think is good but not great. Lots of other airlines out there offering the same or better.
Again, don’t misunderstand, there are airlines out there with a worse overall product. But Turkish probably wouldn’t make my top 5 (or even top 10, maybe?).
It’s hard to say, but it’s pretty much the same with me. Objectively, they have a solid product. But somehow I still can’t really say I enjoy travelling with them. I think perhaps it’s just that they lack a bit of character.
The electronic passport machines now actually work in Basel!
Yes! I was there last week and did a double take!