After the Turkish Airlines domestic business lounge and domestic elite lounge in the new Istanbul airport, it was time to discover their lounges dedicated to international flights.
Turkish has two lounges in the international area: one lounge dedicated to business class passengers of Turkish Airlines and other Star Alliance airlines and another one for elite passengers of Star Alliance airlines who travel in economy. This is the one we will test today.
Location of the lounge
The lounge is located in the large shopping and restaurant area in the heart of Istanbul airport, from where you can reach all the gates. To get there, take the escalator in front of gate C1 to reach the Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Lounge on the international departure level.
If eligibility is verified at the bottom of the escalator, access to the lounge is controlled by doors that open by scanning the boarding pass.
The central location of the lounge is an advantage as it is equidistant from all gates and easy to find. The downside is that you may have to walk a long way to find your gate when leaving the lounge. On short connections, I sometimes skipped the lounge because it would have taken me almost 40 minutes to get there and back, which is not really interesting for a one-hour connection.
Given the size of the airport and the distances involved, it might have been useful to do as Lufthansa does in Frankfurt, which has a series of lounges scattered throughout the terminals, even if the airport’s configuration is different.
Screens indicate the walking time to the different gates.
Who has access to the lounge
It is a little more complicated than for the business lounge where the eligibility rules are self explanatory.
The following people have access to the lounge
- All passengers traveling in Business Class (even if they have their own lounge) on Turkish Airlines or a Star Alliance member airline.
- Passengers traveling in Economy Class with Turkish Airlines who are members of the Miles&Smiles Elite and Elite Plus programs.
- Star Alliance Gold members traveling on Turkish Airlines or another alliance airline in economy.
Layout and design of the lounge
The first words that come to mind when you enter the lounge are “it’s gigantic”.
And the numbers prove it: with a surface area of 5,600 m2, the lounge can accommodate up to 765 people seated. And to think that they have a second one of the same size a little further away !
Around a central area dedicated to catering, which we will talk about later, the lounge is organized in different thematic areas more intimate to break the impression of gigantism.
A library area.
A more “oriental” area.
More “conventional” aeras. Without TV…
Or with TV:
A movie corner:
A children’s corner:
A model of the airport….
Privatized alcoves to rest with a view on the terminal activity…
Or simply seats “with a view”…
It is gigantic but this multiplicity of areas breaks up the impression of size, gives more intimacy and allows each person to find the setting and the layout that correspond to their needs.
Catering areas all around the central area as well…
Let’s talk about catering…
Catering in the lounge
All the center of the lounge is occupied by different food stations around which are distributed the different areas that I presented to you.
To start the traditional cold buffet…
But also thematic stations with real cooks who prepare in front of you Italian, Turkish specialties etc… Each station looks like a small inn with a kitchen and, again, tables and chairs to sit at.
I stop here! A real “food court” in the middle of an airline lounge with dishes cooked in front of you, sometimes on demand, is pure happiness!
There are of course drinks and alcohol scattered in small displays throughout the lounge.
Services
Of course there are toilets and showers.
An internet corner…
And lockers to put your luggage to enjoy the lounge without being bothered.
I leave you with a sight on the immense duty free of the airport seen of the balcony of the lounge.
Bottom line
After the disappointment of the domestic lounges, here I must admit I am impressed. The place is gigantic but composed of many small warm spaces, each one will find there what it seeks as an atmosphere, as a setting according to his tastes and his desires (rest, work, dinning?). And it is very beautiful.
The choice of food is such that everyone will find something to their liking. Plus it’s cooked right in front of you. And it is very good.
It lacks of course the transfer to the plane by bus possible in the domestic lounges because located on the ground floor, impossible here given the choice that was made to put the lounge in the mezzanine. And with nearly 800 seats in each of the “international” lounges, I’m not sure it would have been logistically possible.
One could also have regretted a Lufthansa approach with more lounges but closer to the gates, but this would have led to a restriction of the offer. Since the airport was new, they did not have to deal with the constraints of expanding an existing airport either, so this was probably the best choice.
It can sometimes be just a little noisy as you walk around the dining areas, but it gets quiet again when you go to the more intimate areas like the library. But with 800 people it was to be expected.
No, I have only one word: amazing.
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