A very warm welcome to all Flight-Report members and visitors for this exclusive series of Flight-Report's which was an easy way having a Star Alliance Gold status. In addition, in this series I had the chance to experience the brand new Turkish Airlines Domestic Lounge at Istanbul Airport on the first day of its operation. This exclusive series would include 15 flights ( 14 on Turkish Airlines & 1 on SunExpress ) and 13 of these reports are flights to/from Istanbul Airport in Business Class. The other two flights are also domestic flights which are on Economy Class and they are not reports from/to Istanbul Airport. More details could be found in the routing section.
The ninth flight would be the first flight of the day that I would have the last three flights of my second mileage run tour. The flight is a short domestic flight on the TK 737-800 in Business Class. This report would also have a review of the Elite Plus & Business section of the Turkish Airlines Lounge in Izmir.
The routing would look like this. All reports except #2 would include lounge reviews as well.
Flight routing
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9#9 TK 2031 ADB to ISL ( J ) 737-800
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14#14 TK 2030 ISL to ADB ( J ) 737-800
- 15#15 TK 2337 ADB to IST ( Y ) 777-300ER
Pax for this flight
Business Class: %100
Economy Class: %90-95
ONLINE CHECK-IN
Simply done 24 hours before scheduled departure via the TK Mobile app. At the same time, I was able to check-in for my Ankara flight ( #10 ) as well
IZMIR Adnan Menderes AIRPORT - ADB
Early in the morning, I have arrived to the airport with on of the Havaş shuttles and used the direct lounge entrance to enter the airport
Turkish Airlines LOUNGE IZMIR - IZMIR Adnan Menderes AIRPORT
After validating my boarding pass and clearing security, I have headed to the Elite Plus & Business section of the lounge.
There is a billiards table and a play zone in the common area of the lounge
The Elite Plus & Business Class section doesn't have much as the new ISL lounge but had a simple offering like the domestic lounge in IST.
The lounge also has a small TV corner and a business zone that I haven't photographed.
30-35 minutes before takeoff, we were invited to board the buses at the CIP gate and then been transferred to the aircraft.
Boarding pass
As the aircraft was in a remote stand, and the bus carrying Economy passengers had arrived before us, we had to wait 5 minutes until they board.
This XQ 737-800 was parked next door.
Our aircraft
Fuselage shot
TK 2031 IZMIR Adnan Menderes AIRPORT TO Istanbul Airport
After being welcomed by the crew, I have taken my seat.
Shortly after I have taken my seat, welcome drinks were offered. That morning, I have opted for an orange juice.
Later on menus and nuts were distributed by the cabin crew.
The menu was different than my previous TK 2031 flight which was 4 days ago this flight.
Later on the safety video featured by Lego Movie 2 characters Emmet & Wildstyle had been started to monitored from the overhead screens.
We had pushed back on time. This PC 738 was visible at that time.
Such as this TK A320 which was heading to SAW
This time a PC A320neo
TK A319 which was heading to Atatürk Airport
TC-ATR was being pushed back for the morning flight ( KK29 ) to Atatürk Airport.
XQ aircrafts at the International Terminal
Due to the cold weather the previous night at Izmir, our aircraft was de-iced before takeoff.
Shortly after our de-icing process, we took off.
The terminal
And the last shot of ADB
Gaziemir district
Fuarİzmir ( EXPO ) area
Balçova and Narlıdere areas
Karşıyaka district
Mavişehir district
Çiğli Air Base
And, after reaching our cruising altitude
After the seatbelt signs had been turned off, I had visited the front lavatory which was clean at that time.
Today, the IFE system was active
For this short flight, I have chosen to open the route map.
Then the meal service had begun,
Fresh fruit salad
Homemade dried fig jam from Bodrum
Trabzon countryside butter
"Gözleme" Flat Turkish Pastry with cheese & spinach
Regional cheese; aged cheese ( Kars ) & "Ezine" cheese ( Çanakkale )
Smoked turkey breast
Marinated Turkish olives
Bread and pastries were also offered
For a drink, I have chosen to have a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice
Shortly after the trays were collected we had started our descend.
And landed to ISL on time. The Baku flight was waiting its turn for the runway.
The tower
The airport mosque
After our taxi, we had parked to gate G11a which is the gate located at the end of the domestic concourse.
As I knew I was going to fly with the same crew to Ankara, I said them "see you soon" and left the aircraft
ISTANBUL AIRPORT - ISL
Our aircraft
TC-JUE that would head to Trabzon that day
And the aircraft that I have flown here
Last shot of TC-JVF
And, TC-JVN that would take me to Ankara just after this flight.
Later on, I have headed to the domestic transfer area and passed to the departures level.
This report has came to an end. Thanks for reading and hope to see you in another report.
Hello Eryorulmaz!
Still more deja vu, but this series is still quite entertaining.
The lounge looks lovely, although the location of the billiards table seems a bit odd… in this shot it kinda looks like it’s in the middle of a hallway.
Oh hey, IFE! Not that it’s really needed on this short a flight, but still, nice to have it up and running.
As ever, catering looks solid — it seems like there’s a decent variety of options on TK domestic. And I suspect throughout this mileage run series, you’ve seen all of those options. ;-)
“As I knew I was going to fly with the same crew to Ankara, I said them "see you soon" and left the aircraft”
- Keep the engines running, I won’t be long. LOL.
“Perfect seat, perfect meal and a perfect crew. That's all I could say.”
What more is there to say? Great summary, and looking forward to you re-connecting with your crew in a few minuteds.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi hometoyyz and thanks for commenting this report as well,
"The lounge looks lovely, although the location of the billiards table seems a bit odd… in this shot it kinda looks like it’s in the middle of a hallway."
- Yes it's located in the middle of the security checkpoint and the lounge entrance. The billiards table is also visible from the terminals regular boarding gate area. Maybe they wanted people to be impressed about the lounge and buy J class next time. But, it would be nice to play billiards if I had a companion that day.
"Oh hey, IFE! Not that it’s really needed on this short a flight, but still, nice to have it up and running."
- Yes it's nice. Some people prefer to watch half of the movie on one flight and there remaining part on its next flight. Especially this is valid for passengers with same day domestic returns. Also documentaries and TV shows under 30 minutes are great options for a flight like this.
"Keep the engines running, I won’t be long. LOL."
- :)
"What more is there to say? Great summary, and looking forward to you re-connecting with your crew in a few minuteds"
- Thanks again and hope to see you in the next report.