Hi, dear flight-report members and readers!
In this nostalgic FR I'd like to present a review of a long-haul transatlantic flight from now-long-defunct Istanbul Ataturk Airport (ISL) to Sao Paulo Guarulhos (GRU) on Turkish Airlines B777-300ER taken on 22 February 2016 - almost 10 years ago. It was my first ever transatlantic flight and my first ever trip to the Americas, and the this flight became unforgettable due to super comfortable economy cabin and stunning views all the way.
In August 2015 TK made a sale on some its long-haul routes with super-promo fares from select Italian cities to Sao Paulo and thus I bought the BLQ-ISL-GRU-ISL-BLQ ticket for just 220 pre-Covid EUR. As the layovers in ISL were overnight and shortest possible, I was eligible for complimentary hotels from TK.
On ISL-GRU flight I got one of the older B77Ws with then-already-vanishing 3-class layout C28_W63_Y246 (in June 2016 TK completely got rid of these layouts in favor of 2-class C49_Y300) with the best economy seats I've ever had on long-haul flights. On GRU-ISL flight I got newer B77W, which I already reviewed in the FR of ISL-HKG flight, taken on 18 January 2016. In this FR I also reviewed the layouts and seat models of the TK B77W fleet.
Turkish Airlines Long-Haul Flights to Latin America
TK15 ISL-GRU-EZE was the first (and for a long time the only) TK's flight to Latin America (given that GRU is far more lucrative market than any other Latin American major airport). Initially it was operated by A343s until early 2010s, then - by B77Ws (as was in my case) and from 2020 - by A359s, when TK started to receive these new-gen planes (during the pandemic GRU-EZE tag was operated only twice a week, if I remember correctly).
Worth to note that quite a number of airlines, flying to Brazil's main cities - Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro - also have tag flights to Buenos Aires: ET flies ADD-GRU-EZE (currently with B77Ls), EK flies DXB-GRU on A380s and DXB-GIG-EZE on B77Ws, BA flies LHR-GRU on A35Ks and LHR-GIG-EZE on RR-powered B77Es, AC flies YYZ-GRU and YUL-GRU on B789s and one of these Dreamliners makes GRU-EZE tag (making GRU kind of "scissor hub" for AC).
In early 2018 TK launched its new triangle flights TK800 ISL-BOG-PTY-ISL and TK183 ISL-HAV-CCS-ISL on then-freshly-refurbished GE-powered A332s (I flew the first one in February-March 2018 and the FRs will follow soon). For the first time TK800 was operated 3 times per week, but later, when the passengers flow build up TK800 was made daily and from time to time was upgauged to B77Ws, but most of the time was operated by B789s, and now it's operated by A359s. TK183 was upgauged to B789 (currently due to situation in Venezuela it's operated as a terminator IST-HAV-IST).
In 2019, shortly before Covid, TK also started its 3rd triangle Latin American flight TK181 IST-MEX-CUN-IST with a mix of B77Ws and B789s. Since then this flight was downgauged to only B789s.
In late 2024 TK launched its newest Latin American flight TK215 IST-GRU-SCL on A359s, which is operated 6 times per week. SCL is TK's farthest destination in Latin America and one of the farthest from IST (except of SYD and MEL, which are operated via KUL and SIN respectively and will probably be flown nonstop once TK starts to receive the newest A35Ks).
Speaking of economy class, TK's B77Ws are definitely in the top of the spectrum of TK's various long-haul economy classes due to the spacious 3-3-3 layout and very comfortable seats (Weber 5751, Safran Z300, TCI Skysofa), whereas TK's standard A359s and B789s are in the bottom due to TCI Epianka seats (a relatively new "unified" model of 17.4" seatwidth for A359s, B789s, A21Ns, B7M9s and B7M8s), which are mediocre in terms of comfort and are good only for mid-haul flights, but not for longhauls across the third of the globe. Worth noting that TK also have 4 "Turkoflot" A359s (TC-LGI/J/K/L) with one of the best cabins in the world for A350, which are far better than TK's standard A359s, but they aren't operated to Latin American destinations. TK's long-haul A332s, when were operated to BOG+PTY and HAV+CCS, could be considered almost equal to B77Ws in terms of comfort due to their TCI Skysofa seats.
Whereas TK's netword to Latin America has grown significantly, it's sad to see the downgrade in terms of economy class. It's understandable that A359s and B789s are significantly more fuel-efficient on 13+ hours long-haul flights than B77Ws (and especially A332s) due to the new-gen engines and lower wing loading, but I believe that TK should've put much more effort into the design of economy class of its new-gen widebodies.
Now-Long-Defunct Istanbul Ataturk Airport (ISL)
As my BLQ-ISL flight was the latest in the schedule the day before, and ISL/IST-GRU is always operated once daily, I was eligible for a complimentary hotel from TK. I was shuttled to Gorrion (IIRC) hotel quite far from ISL. In the morning I was shuttled back to ISL, where I arrived 2 hours before the flight, so I didn't have that much time to wander around the terminal, overloaded by crowds.
The impressive FIDs with the departures, scheduled for the first half of the day.
Crowdy corridors of the ISL's international airside. Having got used to the newest spacious airport terminals, I almost feel claustrophobic looking at this photo.
Planespotting in ISL
I had some time for planespotting before my flight.
GE-powered A332 (TC-JNB), which back then had old obsolete cabins. In late 2017 it was refurbished with 2-class C18_Y232 layout with 2-2-2 Safran Aura Enhanced business class and TCI Skysofa economy class, and in February 2018 I got it on ISL-BOG-PTY flight (the FR is coming soon!).
RR-powered A333 (TC-JNR). All TK's RR-powered A333 have 2-class C28_Y261 layout with 2-2-2 Zodiac Aura Lite business class and Weber 5751 economy class. By the coincidence, 6 years after, 19 February 2022, I left Russia for good on this very plane on VKO-IST flight, which then flew directly over Ukraine and I saw the night lights of Kiev. Maybe I'll publish a FR of this flight later.
One of TK's B77Ws and the cemetery of A300s and MD80s of defunct Turkish carriers on the backdrop.
My gate 209 (flights to GRU were traditionally departing from this gate in ISL) and the promotion of AtlasGlobal network above. KK went bust in February 2020, a month before the pandemic, flights to Ukrainian cities on any carrier are unimaginable since February 2022…
The Aircraft
My flight was operated by 2011-built TC-JJK named "Akdeniz" ("White Sea", this is how Turks call Mediterranean Sea).
The first 12 TK's own B77Ws (TC-JJE to -JJP), delivered in 2010-2011, had 3-class layout C28_W63_Y246. I'm glade I made this screenshot at the gate, because it demonstrates how that layout looked like. The business class cabin consists of 4 rows of 2-3-2 lie-flat seats (Zodiac Aura Lite) between 1L/R and 2L/R doors, the premium economy cabin - extremely atypical for today's standards! - consists of 9 rows of 2-3-2 recliners between 2L/R and 3L/R doors, and the economy class in 3-3-3 layout (Weber 5751 seats) consists of 2 large cabins - between 3L/R and 4L/R doors and between 4L/R and 5L/R doors. After 5 years of flying B77Ws with this layout TK realized that it was losing money on the premium economy and from late 2015 to mid-2016 eliminated this class completely. Instead, TK put 3 more rows of 2-3-2 business class after 2L/R doors and a small economy cabin between this 2nd business cabin and 3L/R doors, thus making the layout similar to C49_Y300 layout of its 2014-2017-built B77Ws. TC-JJK was reconfigured in May 2016, just 3 months after my flights (in the bonus section below I'll show, how the cabins of TK's first 12 B77Ws look after the reconfiguration and refurbishment). Now we know that premium economy in B777s is sustainable only as a small cabin with 2-4-2 layout. Currently only 4 TK's "Turkoflot" A359s (TC-LGI/J/K/L) with SU-ordered cabins feature true premium economy cabin (I flew "Turkoflot" TC-LGL from IST to TLV in June 2023, and it was a very memorable flight!), but it is marketed as "economy plus" for the holders of higher tiers of "Miles and Smiles" loyalty program.
The Premium Economy Cabin
A general view of the premium economy cabin during boarding. Sorry for the blurry photo, but it gives an idea how this cabin looked like.
One of the duo seat blocks of the premium economy. The seats are identical to the narrowbody business class seats in TK's own A321s, B739s and B738s, except of fabric upholstery instead of "leather" one. In early May 2016 I got to experience flying in such seat when I got an operational upgrade on ISL-OPO flight on a B739. Though, I still haven't found the name of this seat model.
The Economy Cabin
Some views of then-front large economy cabin, located between 3L/R and 4L/R doors. Back then the right-side seat triplets featured blue headrests, the central triplets featured red headrests and the left-side triplets featured green headrests.
The Rear Economy Cabin
A view of the rear large economy cabin, located between 4L/R and 5L/R doors.
The 3 last rows (51 to 53) of this cabin feature duo lateral seat blocks due to fuselage tapering in the rear. During online check-in I chose seat 52K (on the photo), featuring 2 windows, but when the boarding was completed, the crew wanted to move a woman with a child at this duo block and moved me to an aisle seat 48H. I was shocked, because the economy class turned to be full to the brim with zero vacant seats, but then a solution came. Thankfully, an Argentinian man from 49K agreed to swap seats with me and saved my flight. A HUGE THANKS to him!
The Economy Seat
The economy seat model in TK's first 16 B77Ws (TC-JJE to -JJU) is Weber 5751 - arguably, the best modern economy seat for long-haul flying (which is sadly no longer produced). The seatwidth between the armrests is 18.5", which is the maximum possible for 3-3-3 economy in B777 (for example, JL has the same width in its Sky Wider 3-3-3 economy in its B77Ws). The seat is very generously padded and feels extremely comfortable. This is the most comfortable seat I've ever had in a widebody and one of the widest - though, OZ A380 has even wider (18.9"!) Safran Z300 seats (though, less padded).
The seat has fabric upholstery, adjustable "leather" headrest, Panasonic eX3 IFE with large (but not very responsive for today's standards) screen with adjustable angle and numerous ports (USB, Ethernet, S-Video) and remote control, coat hanger, bi-fold tray table, seat pocket and legrest. The seat pitch is very good (though, expectedly less than in JL and KE B77Ws), though, the legrest can interfere if you want to stretch your legs under the seat. If you lower the legrest and put your legs over it, you'll be able to stretch comfortably. Waiting on the seat were pillow and blanket. The content of the seat pocket (safety card, inflight magazine, duty-free magazine and waste bag) was quite similar to the one from ISL-HKG flight on a 2015-built B77W I took a month earlier.
The crew handed out amenity kits.
In the seat pocket there were also an immigration card for Brazil…
… and the printed menu of the meal services (in Turkish, English, Portuguese and Spanish). Such menus were one of the distinctive features of pre-Covid TK.
The Flight
The pushback begins. A view of the ISL terminal and the ATC tower. Among the aircrafts near the terminal one can see E190 of Ukraine International Airlines and A32X of Atlas Global. Both carriers didn't survive. The latter went into the history 4 years after this flight, the former - 6 years later…
Turkish Technic MRO hangar with 3 TK A332s (one of them is TC-JNC in retro livery, I flew it on CMN-IST in January 2021) and Onur Air A320. Onur Air went bust in 2021.
The supermighty GE90-115Bs roared, and after a quite long roll we took of, starting our 13+ hours journey towards the sun.
An aerial view of ISL and its runways.
The western part of Istanbul.
Flying over Greek coast. Kavala bay, Pangaion ridge, Falakro mountain and Pirin ridge in Bulgaria on the backdrop.
Views of Pirin through the telelens.
Overflying Thessaloniki.
A "labyrinth of Minotaurus" on a mountain near Thessaloniki.
Mouth of Aksiou river.
A C-shaped bridge over Polyphytos lake.
Beautiful snow-capped mountains of Pindus ridge, located in northern Greece and southern Albania.
Greek and Albanian coast of the Ionic Sea and the northern part of Corfu (Kerkira) island. To the right from the north-eastern tip of Korfu one can see the location of Butrint (with its famous archeological zone), Ksamil and Saranda in Albania. I was there during the pandemic in November 2020, and on the way from Russia to Albania I for the first time visited IST - the new home of TK since April 2019.
Meanwhile the dinner is served: kofte (minced beef) with mashed potato, sauteed tomato and peppers, hummus, green salad with white cheese, caramelized fig chocolate mousse, bun, crackers, butter, jam and salad dressing. Very tasty and filling!
The southern tip of Sicily in sight.
South-western coast of Sicily. We're leaving Europe behind and flying towards Northern Africa.
Landscapes of northern Algiers.
First views of Sahara desert. Our flight is de-facto trans-saharian plus transatlantic!
The orange-ish vastness of Sahara.
Ain Hammou and Ule Se oases in central Algiers.
Then I fell asleep for a while, and when I woke up, we were flying somewhere over Mauritania. Sahara with some clouds looks much nicer!
Senegal river at the border of Senegal and Mauritania.
Richard Toll town on Senegal river.
Sahara is almost over.
Having reached the middle of the flight…
… we crossed Senegali coast near Dakar and started to cross the Atlantics, leaving Africa behind.
Crossing some high clouds with turbulence, making the ride bumpy.
Mid-flight snacks: pide sandwiches plus Turkish beer and wine. This made me sleep once again for a while.
When I woke up again, we were about to cross the equator, marking my first ever visit to the southern hemisphere.
Passing the intertropical convergence zone with its huge clouds and some turbulence.
And then the ride turned into a pure joy: the sun appeared on my right side and the sunlit Southern Atlantics with various nice clouds over it was beautiful!
The second hot meal came. Creamy tomato sauce rigatoni with fried eggplants and parmesan, red kidney beans in olive oil and wild berry youghurt with mascarpone cream. Again tasty and filling.
The historic moment for me: for the first time in my life I see the Americas - South America, to be precise. Between the flap track fairing and the sunlit ocean one can see a piece of northern Brazil.
Some more beautiful clouds over the Southern Atlantics.
Getting closer to the Brazilian coast.
A decaying "cauliflower" over the ocean near the coast.
One of the most beautiful and striking moments of this flight - a "multi-column" cauliflower, reminding a Portuguese caravella, over the sunlit ocean near the Caravelas town in Bahia state of Brazil.
A stunning combination of the veil of high clouds and the sunlit ocean.
A beautiful frozen edge of the window.
Flying over Espirito Santo state.
Flying over double veil of clouds. The sun creates a halo in the upper veil and a reflection (even with some rainbow) in the lower veil. Absolutely stunning!
Stunning lanscapes of Espirito Santo state with some beautiful clouds and reflections.
A bit more of Brazilian coast. Overflying Anchieta town in Espirito Santo.
Mouth of Itapemirim river near Marataizes town in Espirito Santo.
A river of gold called Paraiba do Sul, in Rio de Janeiro state.
Getting closer to Sao Paulo with just 40 minutes left to fly. I catched myself thinking that I don't wanna this flight to end! The ride in this super-comfortable B77W with these incredible views was a pure joy and I was not exhausted at all!
But the daylight was coming to an end…
… and our descent to GRU started. The flight time totalled at 13 hrs 20 min (40 min less than the block time). Note that this IFE was translating an external camera view.
The last glance on sunlit cauliflowers…
… and we accelerated our descent using spoilers with beautiful condensation stream.
The greater Sao Paulo in sight. Vila Sao Judas Tadeu and Tiete river.
Clouds, rains and thunderstorms are typical for Sao Paulo in the afternoon and evening time in the summer.
A reservoir on Juqueri river near Vila Machado with some beautiful low clouds…
… and without clouds.
Campo de Marte (named after Champ de Mars in Paris) near Tiete river - the oldest airport of Sao Paulo, serving only general and private aviation.
Arrival To GRU
After the landing the windows immediately became covered by the condensation in the very wet and warm air. We arrived at Terminal 3 and the GRU-bound passengers (including me) left the plane. The rest, EZE-bound, passengers stayed onboard.
A view of the aircraft after this long and unforgettable flight. Thanks TK and TC-JJK for the best transatlantic flight of my life!
A view of the main building of T3 and of LATAM Chile IAE-powered A320 in the old LAN livery.
Bonus: Business and Economy Cabins Of The Older TK B77W After The Reconfiguration
Since mid-2016 all the 12 oldest TK B77Ws (TC-JJE to -JJP) were reconfigured into the 2-class C49_Y300 layout, I'd like to make an addition to this FR and show photos of the cabins of 2011-built TC-JJL (named "Karadeniz", i.e. "Black Sea"), which flew me from IST to CMN in the very end of pandemic 2020 year. These photos will give you and idea of how the cabins of TC-JJK look now.
Though, worth noting that TC-JJL to -JJP also got refurbished business class with Safran Aura Enhanced seats, whereas TC-JJE to -JJK (and TC-JJR to -JJU as well) feature older Zodiac Aura Lite business seats (they looks quite similar to Safran Aura Enhanced but a bit simplier and lacking some features).
THE 2ND BUSINESS CABIN
THE ECONOMY CLASS
Views of the rear economy cabin (between 4L/R and 5L/R doors).
Duo seats in the 3 very last rows (51 to 53).
Weber 5751 seat and its features.
The IFE menu and the external camera view.
Inflight views of the rear economy cabin.
The rear galley.
One of the lavatories.
General view of the middle economy cabin (between 3L/R and 4L/R doors) upon disembarkment.
Thank you for your attention and see you in the next FRs!
