Review of Turkish Airlines flight from Copenhagen to Istanbul in Business

I went on a two week holiday in June to:
- visit Moldova, one of the few countries in Europe where I'd never been before,
- visit Transnistria, a self-proclaimed independent country,
- visit Odessa, a city where I'd been planning to go for a very long time,
- visit a friend in Tel-Aviv,
- fly to Geneva to meet my family taking the direct Icelandair flight from Keflavík, and then spend a week in France.
I booked the following flights:
- Icelandair from Keflavík to Copenhagen, economy, successful bid to business class
- Turkish Airlines from Copenhagen to Istanbul, business class,
- Turkish Airlines from Istanbul to Chisinau, business class,
- Ukraine International Airlines from Odessa to Tel-Aviv, economy, extra legroom and pre-booked hot meal,
- Alitalia from Tel-Aviv to Athens, economy, extra legroom,
- Aegean from Athens to Geneva, business class,
- Icelandair from Geneva to Keflavík, economy, using my Icelandair miles
I booked this Turkish Airlines business class flight as a one-way ticket at a very reasonable price. I wanted to have a wide-body aircraft between Copenhagen and Istanbul and also to have enough time for the lounge in Istanbul. This schedule also allowed me to have lunch on the first segment and dinner on the second.
I took the train from Malmö Central to Copenhagen Airport through the Øresund bridge. It took only 20 minutes and cost SEK 110.
My flight was from Terminal 2.

The building won't win any architectural competition for its outside look.

It's very functional inside.

The check-in area for Turkish.

"Are you familiar with our new lounge?" asked the lady. "It's after passport control. I'll give you an invitation".
"Can I also use the SAS lounge"
"Yes, of course"

I had access to priority security which was very good as there was a long line at the normal security.

You have to go through a huge duty free shop first.

Copenhagen airport is one of my favourites in Europe. It's beautiful, modern and efficient.

The entrance to the SAS lounge.

This lounge is very nice, spacious, has a typical Scandinavian design and well separated eating, working and resting areas.

The breakfast offer.

I left the SAS lounge and went to passport control approximately 80 minutes before flight departure. While there were a lot of people for the regular passport control there was almost no line at all at the automated passport control (available for EU citizens over the age of 18 travelling with a passport).

The Prime Class lounge is in the non-Schengen area - turn left and go up one floor.

Although the lounge is quite small it is still a good place to spend some time before your flight. There is a nice coffee machine and alcoholic drinks are available from the staffed bar. The lady working at the lounge was friendly. The lounge is also available for Priority Pass holders.

The breakfast offer.

Some apron views - yes, we're at a SAS hub.

Priorities were respected at boarding.

My plane today was an A330-200, registration number TC-JIO, aged 10 years, named Eskişehir.

It didn't have the herring bone configuration I expected but the standard 2+2+2 in four rows with a total of 24 business class seats. There were only seven passengers today. Obviously it was very comfortable for a three hour daytime flight within Europe - perfectly fine for me.

I was booked in seat 2A but moved to 1A so I wouldn't have a neighbour. Legroom for seats 2A and 1A.

Seats 1D and 1F had the biggest legroom.

The controls were not very modern.

The screen was in the central armrest for the bulkhead seats. A small table could also be folded out. The main table could be folded out from the side armrest.

A simple pillow was waiting on my seat.

Turkish Airlines signature welcome drink.

Headphones were offered.

Turkish roasted hazelnuts.

Boarding was completed at 11.05 for a scheduled departure time of 11.10. The captain announced a flight time of three hours and five minutes. Push-back was exactly on time. We had a long taxi followed by take-off at 12.21 from runway 22. The view immediately after take-off:

Menus were distributed before push-back. A good point for Turkish: although I didn't order seafood it was added to my booking as it was in my preferences registered with my Turkish frequent flyer number.

Drink orders were taken after take-off. I asked for some Turkish white wine, but no details are given on the menu card about it.

Hot towel.

The meal was served very quickly, only about 15 minutes after take-off. The appetizer (mezze), the salad, the cheese and the pudding were served on one tray. Salmon tartare was added for me to the standard appetizers of tabbouleh and hummus - a very nice touch! Everything tasted very good, including the pastry and the butter.

Knives and forks with the THY logo.

I had grilled swordfish as a main course. The fish was good; the lentils very tasty but a bit salty; the celeriac potato puree had a strong and characteristic taste. So while it was not necessarily my all-time favourite dish it had the merit of being original and tasty. The salad was fresh. The pudding was good. The Turkish sauvignon blanc wine was light and OK. Altogether a very efficient and enjoyable lunch service.

Cognac, coffee and tea offered from a trolley alongside a smile and a "How is your flight?" question. Hot towel was distributed after the end of the meal service.
It was time to rest after lunch. The seat reclined and there was enough legroom but it wouldn't be really comfortable for an overnight flight.

In-flight entertainment: the screen was on the small side for the bulkhead seats. The screen was not very responsive as a touch screen but I also had and old-fashioned remote control which was faster.

What matters more is that there were a lot of choices: 298 movies, 923 TV shows and 1786 songs. This selection was good and I could easily find something interesting.

I found this video - I'm quite sure I was the only person onboard interested in this. A very detailed tutorial about airline economics, especially pricing.

View over the Bulgarian coast and Varna airport.

The construction of the new Istanbul airport

We had nice views over Istanbul before landing

We landed at exactly 15.00.
I've never heard of Bosphorus European Airways

Yes, we're at Istanbul Airport.

After arrival I went to Turkish Airways' famous Istanbul lounge - see my next flight report to Chisinau.
Thank you for reading.