Review : Turkish Airlines in Business Class between Phuket and Istanbul on A330

After a quick trip to Thailand to attend a wedding it is time to return to France. So here I am on the first leg of my return flight: a Phuket-Istanbul business class flight on Turkish Airlines.

Check-in and ground course in Phuket
Boarding in Phuket
Turkish Airline’s business class cabin
Turkish Airlines Business flight and service
Turkish Airlines crew
Arrival and disembarkation in Istanbul
Bottom Line

Check-in and ground course in Phuket

As all too often the Turkish Airlines app was unable to issue a digital boarding pass when I checked in online and so I would have to go through the check-in counter once I arrived at the airport.

There are only two people in front of me in the business line so I figure it won’t take long.

All of a sudden the person in charge of check-in asks me to check in the baggage I was supposed to have in the cabin. I ask her why and she tells me that “at glance” it is too big. I tell her no (well, that’s the whole point of purpose-built luggage), she tells me no. In short, it’s not as if this suitcase didn’t make at least fifteen flights in the cabin on Turkish last year, both in economy and business.

It’s not complicated, there is a template further on to check the size of the suitcases. She replies “no need to check, I have decided“. Oh well, okay. For the time being I had no desire to parley: I know very well that against an obtuse agent wanting to show his authority there is not much to hope for and especially in Asia where they will never bring in a supervisor in case of a problem unless I make a real scandal. As less than an hour before I had already failed to murder a receptionist at the Naka Island I give up…not without almost throwing my suitcase in her face.

She gives me my boarding pass and tells me that my suitcase is checked-in until my final destination, i.e. Gothenburg (from where I’ll go back to Paris afterwards but it’s not the same ticket). Except that I spend the night in Istanbul, as my flight to Gothenburg is only the next morning. So she gets the suitcase back, changes the tagging, reissues the boarding pass…. Without really appreciating that I ask her if she manages connections “at a glance” like luggage.

Finally I get my boarding pass and my suitcase is well checked-in to Istanbul and no further. I’m already breaking the suspense: the next day it will be travelling in the cabin to Gothenburg on a B737 (even though we have an A330 there) without any problems.

She also hands me a voucher for access to I don’t know which lounge Turkish Airlines uses for its customers at Phuket airport and an agent arrives to escort me there. Oh no, I don’t agree. No way to go there, I go to the Thai Royal Orchid lounge where Olivier is waiting for me coming from another hotel in Phuket and who is going to Bali via Singapore (he will eventually write articles about his trip).

So my pitbull raises her voice and aggressively tells me that I have to go there because this is the lounge that Turkish sends its business passengers to and that I will be accompanied there and not elsewhere. I tell him that I don’t care about being accompanied and that I’ll go to the Thai lounge on my own. She keeps telling me that… and then her colleague tells her that since I’m Star Alliance Gold I can go to any lounge on a Star Alliance airline, even if I’m travelling in economy.

So I go quietly through the security and immigration checks and leave the Turkish counter under the furious gaze of the pitbull.

The checks go like clockwork and I join Olivier in the Royal Orchid lounge in Thaï to have breakfast together before our respective flights which leave at almost the same time.

During my stay in the lounge I keep an eye on the screen where the status of the flights is indicated. One hour before take-off the flight is announced as “boarding”. As I said on the outbound flight, Turkish Airlines always announces early boarding times to make sure everyone is at the gate on time…but this is not Istanbul so I decide to go to the gate next door.

And indeed the boarding has begun.

Boarding in Phuket

The least I can say is that I find a happy mess at the gate. A crowded world, badly formed queues, it is not clear who goes where and where to go. I sneak past a sign indicating a priority lane and I see that an agent is indeed cleaning up so that only eligible people can access it, which is not easy as everyone is standing on anything that looks like a passage.

But that’s not the end of it…only boarding passes are checked here. Passports are checked in the corridor leading to the bridge. Still a bit messy but it’s okay. Now I realise that in fact the priority lane and the normal lane are moving in parallel and even overtaking each other. In short, it’s a bit of a mess.

And now my passport has been checked and all that’s left to do is board the plane? Well, no! In fact we still can’t get into the aircraft and we are ” stocked ” in the gangway in full sun.

I don’t know if Turkish Airlines or the airport is to blame for this mess, but better orderly and efficient boarding has been done before.

After 5 minutes you can finally get into the aircraft.

I am quickly brought a welcome drink, always without alcohol at Turkish. As usual for me it will be lemon/mint.

Shoe bag and blanket are already in place.

Then comes the amenity kit. It’s Versace. Even if the products are of good quality it looks a bit “cheap”.

Staff are busy helping passengers settle in, and serving welcome drinks. There is always someone working at the bar and facing the cabin and, a bit like in First on Lufthansa for example, I find it very nice as a customer to always have someone looking at the cabin.

I’m amused to see that many of the bags that arrive in the cabin are at least the size of mine, if not bigger…but I’ll avoid thinking about the check-in pitbull again.

On the other hand, one thing is certain: on these A330s (but to my recollection I have also seen this on some aircraft in the Turkish Airlines fleet, but not all) the overhead compartments are smaller than elsewhere and luggage will only fit if it is not placed in the depth direction.

Menus are brought in, which we will discuss later. The order will be taken before departure to allow a quick and individualized service later. One dish is missing from the proposed menu…too bad.

And now we’re ready to go. The doors are closed and safety instructions are given. For a few months now a more “classic” film has replaced the old “Lego 2” instructions which were nice at first viewing but quickly became annoying when seen a little too much.

However, Turkish Airlines has a bad habit of playing them twice in a row: once in Turkish and once in English. It’s annoying in the end.

Turkish Airline’s business class cabin

This is the cabin usually found on all Turkish Airlines twin-aisle flights, but the one on this return flight looks a little newer than the one on the outbound flight. Not different but with some “adjustments” to the original model.

The 2-2-2 configuration is a bit outdated at a time when the 1-2-1 is becoming more common, but the impression of space is omnipresent and you are far from the front seat.

Here is my window seat. A mini partition deploys in flight between the two adjacent seats.

The storage space under the ottoman is no longer open but takes the form of a chest.

And this is what it looks like when you are settled.

Compared to the outbound cabin, the storage space between the screens has disappeared.

The seat controls or why make simple when you can make complicated.

The remote control is modern but still unresponsive. In general, despite a very good selection of films, the responsiveness of the in-flight entertainment system interface is still one of Turkish Airlines’ weak points.

For sleeping, the seat becomes a real flat bed and is equipped with special accessories…but more on that later.

Turkish Airlines Business flight and service

An oshibori is distributed after take-off. It is lukewarm and not very pleasant, a recurrent observation at Turkish.

The food having been ordered before take-off, the drinks order is taken. The ” chef ” arrives in the cabin.

The tablecloths are set up and the aperitif arrives with (tasteless) hazelnuts and some canapés.

The smoked salmon is very fresh and the cheese puff is melting.

The table is set. The French “bon appétit” is nice.

The fake candle (between the bread and the water) looks a little less good in a cabin where daylight is omnipresent.

Here is the menu that was distributed on the ground.

The appetizer cart arrives. It’s quite a different style than a trolley service!

No need to choose an appetizer: you take whatever you want and the plate is laid out in front of you. And served with a smile.

And this is the result! It is really appealing.

Everything is very fresh and tasty. Special mention for the cocktail sauce that accompanies the shrimp and seafood with lemongrass! The chicken is also melting.

The crew closes the window shades during the appetizer service.

For the main course the beef proposed on the menu was in fact not available so I’ll have the prawns, not inspired by the pasta I’ll see on my seatmate table. My main course will be brought to me once the starter is finished, with service being done on a customer-by-customer basis at the pace of each customer and not collectively for the whole cabin.

Everything is impeccably cooked, fine and good. On the other hand, I’m a little disappointed with the quantities.

Then comes the cheese and dessert service, once again with the cart. As with the appetizers, you choose all the desserts you want and the plate is prepared in front of the passenger.

And here is the work, accompanied by a tea.

Good marks for the desserts. Cheeses are not at the level of Lufthansa but it is ok.

At the end of the service I will have tea and cognac. And I will get several refills during the flight without having to ask.

Another excellent service from Turkish Airlines with stylish, very friendly and professional staff.

Everyone starts to switch a bit to the night configuration even though it is early afternoon. There’s still a long time to fly. Note the candles that decorated the tables and that the crew placed above the screens. On the other hand, the cabin, in such a configuration, is not an example of privacy.

A quick trip to the toilet before lying down. It is clean, but I am pleasantly surprised by the excellent smell of the perfume.

For lying down and sleeping the crew equips the seat with a mini mattress topper. Alors ça ne vaut pas et de loin les équipements qu’on peut avoir en First mais pour une business c’est quasi unique et très appréciable.

The passengers are a little too close together and there is a lack of privacy in this cabin.

But lying down you are low in the seat structure and you soon forget your seatmate except that you can see his TV screen (a pity if one wants to sleep and the other does not). On this daytime flight we dozed off more than we slept, but we saw on the outbound flight that the risk of kicking your seatmate is not zero either.

The mini separation that can be drawn between the two seats does a minimum job, but nothing more.

As usual on Turkish Airlines the staff were very active from boarding to the end of the meal service and then totally disappeared from the cabin for the rest of the flight.

As the flight starts to come to an end I go back to the toilets and have a look at the bar at the front of the cabin. It has been looted and not restocked.

We are served the arrival snack and everyone starts to settle down a bit. We have a choice between rigatoni and chicken, I’ll choose the chicken. I think this is the first time on a long-haul business class flight that I’ve been given a choice of dish on the second in-flight service, which is usually a standard meal that is the same for every passenger.

And here again, service is by the plate, depending on when the passenger is ready, and not by the line for the whole cabin with a trolley.

But where is my chicken? In fact, not only do we have a choice of dish for the second service on Turkish Airlines, but it is also served in two services (in long and medium haul business class). Again, this is rare (or unique?) enough to be noted.

The chicken will follow once I have finished the starter.

I won’t mention the very fresh starters and desserts but I will give a special mention to the remarkably melt-in-the-mouth chicken which is far from the norm on a plane.

We are approaching the arrival and the cabin is gradually being prepared for the landing.

Turkish Airlines crew

Turkish Airlines was true to its reputation with very friendly, available, efficient and stylish staff. But if the crew is irreproachable I will always make the same remark which is more about protocol.

Once again the staff almost completely disappeared from the cabin once the meal was served, only to emerge from the galley to serve the second course. It’s a pity, we would appreciate a little more regular rounds.

Arrival and disembarkation in Istanbul

We arrived in Istanbul 1 hour ahead of schedule. Looking at the history of this flight I realize that it is very frequent for this Phuket-Istanbul.

After a very long taxi ride (as usual here) we finally arrive at the airport.

I quickly get out of the plane and start a long walk to immigration (in Istanbul everything is far). There is a bit of a wait but there is a priority queue for business passengers and evrything is done in 30 seconds. I realise that this is perhaps the 10th time I have passed through this new airport since it opened less than a year ago, but the first time I have discovered the arrivals circuit as I have only made connections there until now.

It’s the end of February, there’s a bit of talk about COVID-19 in Europe and I see that there are devices that take the temperature of passengers remotely during disembarkation. I might as well tell you that the next day, neither in Gothenburg, nor in Frankfurt, nor in Paris, will I see any preventive measures.

I will wait for my luggage for about fifteen minutes. It’s not nearly as bad as at Roissy, but I had some unkind thoughts about the pitbull at the check-in.

Once I get my suitcase back, my trip is not completely over: given the length of my connection (14 hours), Turkish Airlines offers me a night in a hotel. How do you benefit, how does it work, is the promise kept? I don’t have a clue and that’s what I’m going to test right now. We’ll talk about it in a future review.

Bottom Line

An excellent flight with perfect service and impeccable catering. The only regret is that the cabin is no longer up to market standards, the boarding was a bit of a mess and above all the attitude of the staff at check-in.

For the record my routing :