I went on a part holiday, part work trip to Central Asia in August 2025. I've already been to all five Central Asian countries but this time I wanted to go to some places I hadn't been before: Dushanbe amd Khorog in Tajikistan, Astana in Kazakhstan and Khiva in Uzbekistan. The obvious choice to fly from Europe to Central Asia is Turkish Airlines. I live in Iceland but Turkish does not fly there. The cheapest business class from Europe to Dushanbe was from Budapest. I booked a Wizz flight from Iceland to Budapest. The flight's originally schedule was 15.25 – 22.00, it was later changed to 19.10 – 01.35, but the actual departure time was, due to a delay, 21.12 and the flight landed in Budapest at 03.02am, five hours later than originally planned – not ideal.
Here's my full itinerary:
Keflavík to Budapest, Wizz, economy - no flight report
Budapest to Istanbul, Turkish Airlines, business - you're here
Istanbul to Dushanbe, Turkish Airlines, business
Khorog to Dushanbe, Tajik Air, economy
Dushanbe to Astana, Somon Air, economy
Astana to Tashkent, Uzbekistan Airways, business
Tashkent to Khiva, Uzbekistan Airways, economy
Khiva to Tashkent, Uzbekistan Airways, economy
Tashkent to Istanbul, Turkish Airlines, business
Istanbul to Warsaw, Turkish Airlines, business
Warsaw to Keflavík, Wizz, economy
I stayed at the new Tribe Hotel Budapest Airport, within walking distance from both terminals. The room was comfortable, although it's never comfortable to go to sleep at about 4am.
I liked the view from my room.
The 20th August is a bank holiday in Hungary and is one of the busiest days at the airport. I had checked in on-line and I had fast track security so I got in quickly, but it was still very crowded. The area between terminals 2A and 2B:
Most flights are within Schengen so there was no waiting time for my passport control.
Go upstairs at Gate B9 for the lounge.
Turkish uses Celebi Platinum Lounge.
The lounge is small, quite nice and was not crowded.
There's a good view from the lounge.
The choice of food is not huge and quality is just average. I was planning to have lunch on the plane anyway.
The same goes for the drinks.
The choice of printed press is very meagre.
Boarding started at 13.35. Priority boarding was available for business class.
From the moment I entered the plane until I left it, it was a pleasure to see that the cabin crew was extremely friendly and helpful.
This B737-800, registration number TC-JHS, built 12 years ago, has four rows in a business class with a 2+2 configuration. Turkish Airlines have more modern seats on some of their other aircrafts (see my next flight report), but these are nevertheless some of the most comfortable seats you can get on a narrowbody plane for a short flight within Europe.
I had originally selected seat 2E but I asked to move to 4F to have a window seat and to have the seat next to mine empty. Legroom is huge.
Load was 8/16 in business class
A welcome drink was offer. I had some mint lemonade, of course.
Push-back was at 14.00 for a scheduled departure time of 13.55.
We took off at 14.10 from runway 13L. The view right after take-off:
And a few seconds later with the airport in the background.
There are overhead screens.
And also fold-out screens from the armrest.
The ports do not seem to the most up-to-date.
A hot towel was offered 8 minutes after take-off. Meal orders were taken shortly after. Let’s have a look at the menu:
Lunch was served 20 minutes after take-off. Everything was served at the same time on a tray, which I prefer on such a short flight.
Lunch was not only plentiful but also excellent. The beef was the most tender I've ever had on a plane.
I had some quite good Turkish red wine with it.
Hazelnuts were offered after lunch, and I ordered some more lemonade.
There was nobody else in my row.
Free wifi was available and it was working.
The Black Sea is blue.
We had some spectacular views over Istanbul.
Great view over the old airport.
This city is just huge.
Arnavutköy, a town next to the airport with many accommodation options.
Moments before landing.
We landed at 16.46 and reached our gate at 16.54 for a scheduled arrival time of 17.10.
