Transfer in Istanbul

Transferring through Istanbul is like watching a freak show parade – and it’s horrible. I’m really not exaggerating when I say that at some point, I stop counting the number of men I see with a freshly done hair transplant and women who have had their eyes done or gotten themselves a nose job. The whole lot of them look as though they’ve been battered!

By the time I arrive on the departures concourse, it’s 14h00 and my flight will be boarding at 15h00. I can’t be bothered visiting the crowded lounge. So I spend my time walking and taking in the views outside, which are, admittedly, rather boring, given that it’s mostly Turkish Airlines that you see.

Boarding

Boarding starts at 15h20 and it’s a complete mess, mainly because the Turks have no sense of how to keep a queue. They’re all trying to be the first ones to board the plane or garner some other advantage over everybody else, but don’t realise that in doing so, they just hold up the process for everyone.

Parked on our left is an airline I’ve never heard of with a Libyan registration (5A-). On our right is an Ural Airlines flight being readied to Ekaterinburg.

The Cabin & Seat

The seat on this aircraft is identical with that installed on the B 737-9 MAX. On this flight, I’m seated on 1A. Again, the seat next to me is empty. In fact, the whole row is.

The Service & Crew

The crew on this flight are lovely. There are five young ladies and they’re quite charming. They interact with ease with the passengers and seem genuinely friendly.

Once boarding is completed, the welcome drinks are brought out, followed by the menu for the flight. After take-off, the crew hand out hot towels.

The Meal – Late Lunch

The meals are always so nicely presented on Turkish Airlines. The service feels a lot more like what you’d get on a mid- or long-haul flight than a short flight to Basel.

The first course is lovely. I can’t remember the last time I had a prawn cocktail. It’s kind of retro, but it’s good and has a bit of spice to it.

The stir fry vegetables are also very good, with a nice hint of garlic. It’s mostly wilted spinach, from what I can tell.

The main course is like a vegetarian Bolognese sauce, with small Puilly lentils replacing the minced meat to give the lovely, tangy sauce its volume and texture.

The dessert is excellent too. It’s basically a caramel rice pudding. It’s surprisingly light and delicious.

Once the meal concludes, I ask for a coffee with milk and a glass of sparkling water. I take out my earphones to listen to some music on my iPhone. I think I’m in the mood for Puccini’s murderous Princess Turandot today.

After the meal service, the captain emerges from the cockpit and sits himself down on 1F to be served his meal. The cabin crew bring him his meal on a tray similar to the one for Business Class passengers. Once he’s done, he spends quite a while surfing on his mobile, before returning to the cockpit. All in all, he spends about an hour outside the cockpit, leaving the first officer alone to fly the plane. My colleague, The Flying Dutchman reported the same thing happening on his flight from Düsseldorf. When he told me about it, I figured he must have missed there being a third person in the cockpit or something. But apparently not.

Arrival

We start our descent shortly after crossing into German airspace and then fly long the Swiss-German border and then over the Schwarzwald. We make a right turn to join the downwind, then make a left turn to cross the Rhine river and enter into French airspace. We line up with the runway abeam the Peugeot factory outside Mulhouse. And then we land, and I’m finally home again.

Conclusion

So, this was my eighth flight with Turkish Airlines over a short period. While it is only fair to acknowledge that the food offerings and the comfort on board are good, I am still skeptical of the airline and I will definitely not be seeking them out to travel with in future. There are a few things I’m willing to oversee as a passenger – but safety is definitely not one of them. As previously mentioned, the captain leaving the cockpit for an hour to have lunch and a little downtime is questionable. It’s reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous. It also shows some serious gaps in the airline’s crew resource management if a captain can get away with such behaviour simply by merit of his rank.