After the Lufthansa business class, it is the Turkish Airlines economy class that we will test on this flight between Paris and Istanbul, the final destination being once again Izmir.
Ground experience and boarding
I’m still a fan of the architecture of Roissy’s Terminal 1 and its corridors that crisscross at altitude in the heart of the building.
There is a bit of a jam at passport control due to the fact that the Parafe gates are once again out of order. I finally manage to get out of it as well as I can and head for the Star Alliance lounge in Roissy’s Terminal 1 where I will happily take advantage of the terrace to have my morning tea.
The lounge being located before the security controls I leave it a little faster than I would have liked in order to give myself a safety margin once the said controls are crowded.
I still enjoy the vintage feel of the long tunnels leading to the T1 satellites.
It doesn’t take much for it to get stuck in the confined space that hosts the controls in the T1 satellites, but I’ll get out of it once without any problem, thanks to the priority queue.
The aircraft, an Airbus A330 is ready for boarding.
The said boarding will start on time with a strict management of priorities. My Star Alliance Gold status will allow me to board in priority with business class passengers even though I am traveling in economy class.
So far everything is running smoothly without any hitch.
Settling in and discovering the cabin
Turkish Airlines operates twin-aisle flights on some of its flights between Paris and Istanbul, which is rare on European medium-haul routes, unlike what is often the case in Asia on similar distances.
So we have an A330 in 2-4-2 configuration. Having checked in a little late, I had the choice between a window (my favorite place) at the back of the cabin or an aisle in the central seats at the front, I opted for the second solution.
Of course the feeling of space is more important than if I had had an Airbus A320/321 or a Boeing 737!
However I am not a fan of the tones of the cabin. The blue looks a bit washed out and doesn’t go well with the red and the blue of the headrests. Well, this is only a personal opinion and we know that everyone has their own tastes ….. but it looks a bit cheap, far from the premium feel that is often associated with Turkish Airlines.
The seat is comfortable, but not much more, and to my surprise the legroom is not fantastic.
It doesn’t take much to touch.
The screen is of good size and the image is of good quality. The remote control is standard.
The film catalog is rather rich even if I prefer to compose my own program on my iPad than to rely on the programming of the airlines which includes a too large proportion of mainstream comedies and cheesy crap.
The various contents are rich.
Interestingly, it is possible to stream the content of your own devices on the screen.
The boarding is finished, we are ready to leave.
In-flight experience and service
Last formality before going on the track: the safety instructions.
And to be honest: I can’t stand the Turkish Airlines safety video anymore!
As much as I was seduced at the beginning by their animated film featuring the characters of Lego 2, I find it unappealing today. The reason is twofold: too many interruptions, cuts that make you stop following and you don’t memorize the instructions, which is still counterproductive in terms of security. The point of making “offbeat” videos in this area is to get the passenger interested in the instructions, not to divert their attention from them. The second is that the film is long and is shown twice in a row, once in Turkish, once in English. You might as well say that if you fly Turkish Airlines regularly enough the overdose is close.
We finally take off. Given my place in the plane no nice view to share.
It’s time for lunch. Trolleys make their appearance in the cabin.
The advantage of a twin-aisle is that two of them move forward abreast and even if there are more people in the width it moves forward faster overall than a single-aisle.
I won’t avoid the traditional “chicken or pasta ?”, a must for the service in economy class, and proposed by a very friendly and professional steward. I will choose the chicken.
The set looks very good.
First good news: the bread is hot and soft! Second good news: we have real metal cutlery and not plastic like on too many airlines in economy class.
The salad is not very copious but fresh and full of taste (well the vinaigrette must have helped too…).
The chicken is next. It is very soft and tasty. The purée is melting and certainly one of the best I’ve ever had in economy!
And the quantity is not bad at all!
To finish, the mango mousse, very light, will end in beauty this very pleasant meal.
Only drawback: the seat shelf leans a little and I will spend all my meal to maintain it horizontal with knees to avoid that my lunch ends on my pants.
The crew will take some time to clear the trays and serve coffee/tea. Meanwhile no way to use the tablet use a computer or an iPad.
The flight will go on without any noticeable event until Istanbul where we will arrive on time. Whatever one may say with this new trend of operating long-haul flights with single-aisle aircraft such as the A321Neo XLR or Boeing 737 Max, even on a 3-hour flight like this one, the space offered by a twin-aisle aircraft is truly more pleasant and calming.
Arrival in Istanbul
Arrival on time and parking in the new airport of Istanbul. Given the distance between the runways and the terminal, the taxi time to reach the gate is long, very long. This is the only negative point I see in this move as the experience compared to the “old” Ataturk has nothing to do.
The opportunity to share again some pictures.
The place seems empty and huge, which changes the “messy souk” of Ataturk. Police and security checks will be quickly completed and I will head for my connection to Izmir.
Crew
Few opportunities to interact with the crew on a flight of this duration but the service was very professional, and the staff very friendly, speaking in impeccable English.
At most, I will regret the time it took before the trays were cleared.
Bottom line
A very nice experience on this 3 hour flight. The fact that it was operated by a twin-aisle of course added to the experience even though I’m not a fan of the cabin and the legroom seemed surprisingly a bit limited for my 1m88. Bad mark also for the tablet that did not stand upright.
The lunch was very good for an economy class, both in quantity and quality, and the staff was very friendly and did not make any mistakes.
A flight that confirms the excellent reputation of Turkish Airlines, and not only in business class.
For the record my routing
- Paris-Istanbul : Turkish Airlines Economy (here)
- Istanbul-Izmir : Turkish Airlines Economy (No relevance – No Review)
- Izmir-Istanbul : Turkish Airlines Economy (No relevance – No Review)
- Istanbul-Paris : Turkish Airlines Economy
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