Good Evening from Istanbul!
After I had arrived from Zurich this morning and had 10h to kill until my connecting flight to Bangkok, I decided to visit the city again.
I then made myself onto the way back to the airport to arrive 3hrs before departure. One major thing I dislike about the airport is that the metro runs every 20mins which is just not enough for an airport of that size. Therefore the metro is always incredibly cramped.
Arrival at airport
The thing about flying from IST is, that you have TWO security checks. The first when entering the terminal and the second one when going airside.
I used TK's priority airport entrance so there was no queue at my checkpoint.
Since I already checked in in ZRH, i did not use a desk and proceeded straight to the boarding pass check.
Security and Passport Control
I showed my boarding pass to the officer and was let into the priority lane. With just 1 person in front of me, passport control went quick and so did security afterwards. I then headed straight to the Miles and Smiles Lounge.
Lounge
I absolutely LOVE the design of the lounge and it was HUGE. However, since TK only operates two lounges for all passengers, it is always full and its hard to find seating, especially if you are looking for one that has power outlets which seem to be rare in the lounge.
On the other hand, they have one of the best food options of every lounge I've been to but the main dishes are all served by staff so long queues can form and the portions are small, so make sure to order more than one. (1 Pasta portion consisted of about 7 rigatoni)
With about 1h 20 left to departure (meaning 20mins to boarding) I made myself onto my way to my Gate D9.
My ride for today will be a 787-9, registered TC-LLJ and 6 years old at the time of flight
Boarding
After two more passport checks and a 15min boarding delay we were let on board of the aircraft. I strongly believe that boarding is the main point where improvement is needed at TK.
Cabin
The aircraft features a 3-3-3 configuration with really narrow legroom (I'm 180cm).
The seat offered great recline and a huge screen which was also equipped with USB C and A, but no regular sockets were provided.
On the downside, the seat was INCREDIBLY uncomfortable. Both cushion and headrest were hard like stone and on loin-height, there was some sort of lumbar support, seemingly from metal, which was just straight up painful.
So for the next 10 hours is struggled to find a comfortable seating position where it didn't feel like a metal war was being pressed against my spine. I failed and eventually accepted my fate. So big downside for this.
But we did receive a well-stuffed lacoste amenity kit, a blanket, pillow (which didnt help with the metal bar) and headphones.
The IFE also featured camera views.
Pushback, Taxi and Take-Off
We pushed back 2 mins behind schedule, had a 27 minute taxi and took off at 8:56pm.
Meal
About 30mins into the flight, the menus were handed out.
Regarding the drinks (I did not take a picture off), I noticed that the only soft drink they offered was pepsi and pepsi max. No sprite, no fanta, no ginger ale. For such a big carrier, I found that disappointing. I chose the salmon, which tastes okay but had a really watery sauce. The beetroot salad was good, unlike the shepherd salad which had no sauce and therefore was just tomato and cucumber pieces in a bowl. My favourite of the meal was the white chocolate mousse which was AMAZING.
For breakfast I went with the apple pancakes, which I knew I liked from a previous TK flight.
Flight
I tried to sleep for most of the time but, as written above, struggled to find a comfortable position. In the end, I sat sideways in my seat with my leg in the legroom of the seat next to me (which was empty) and accepted that as a somewhat fine position. Luckily, we had some turbulence, which helped me relax and doze off. (I love turbulence, i find it comfy and relaxing)
When my windowseat mate went to the toilet, I snapped a picture of the wing.
Arrival
We landed at 9:18 am in Bangkok and arrived at the gate (satellite terminal) at 9:26, which is 19 mins ahead of schedule. For some reason, the passengers before and behind me deboarded through door 2L, but the flight attandant asked me to deboard through 1L, so I did, even though no one else was asked to do so. Why I had to do that, Idk.
I then proceeded to immigration and since I did not have any luggage I could then head straight to the arrivals hall and the train to the city.
