After a few “aperitif” flights, we are back to the heart of the matter with this business class flight on Turkish Airlines between Gothenburg and Istanbul.

Short reminder of the global routing of the trip:

And the list of articles related to this trip.

Booking

I already explained it in my first post about this trip but I’m doing a short reminder.

I wanted to go to Cancun, destination that was easily accessible from a sanitary point of view and that guaranteed me a mild climate in this month of November. Moreover, I had nothing against extending the distance since I was at the beginning of my requalification period to keep my Star Alliance Gold status.

The best fare I foundwas a Turkish Airlines flight from Gothenburg at around 2000 euros in business class, nothing to do with the astronomical fares proposed from Paris, even adding the pre and post flights.

Check-in and ground experience

No online check-in possible, health documents must be checked. In any case, having luggage to check in, going to the counter was mandatory.

I arrived at the end of the afternoon at the airport of Gothenburg Landvetter with adepressing weather, the opposite of the one I hadthe day before when I arrived.

The airport is completely empty at the end of Saturday afternoon.

Nobody or almost nobody at the Turkish Airlines counter, the check in will be done in 2 minutes.

No health form for a transit in Istanbul nor for the entry in Mexico, it is as much time that is saved.

Let’s head to the security controls. As usual I go to the priority lane which is of little interest because the number of passengers is so low.

I like Gothenburg airport a lot because ofthe fluidity of its controls (and the kindness of the agents)and today’s experience is no exception. The priority lane is not a lane but a direct access to controls totally empty of passengers.

Controls cleared in 2 minutes, friendly chat with the agents as a bonus.

I’m a little ahead of schedule, but no more and I’m hesitant to stop by the lounge. There is no lounge on the “non-Schengen” side in Gothenburg so I have to decide before going through the border control.

But: they didn’t mention any lounge at check-in and there is a good chance that the SAS lounge which normally welcomes Star Alliance passengers is closed, Turkish Airlines did not deal with the other lounge to send its passengers (as it is the case at Roissy where the passengers of the Turkish airline are “loungeless” at the time).

The other lounge, the Vinga lounge, is a Priority Pass lounge so it’s accessible to me but considering the little time to spend there and its low interest I prefer to wait quietly at the gate

So, I’m heading to the ” non Schengen ” zone. If the Schengen zone is almost empty, here it is even worse.

The passport control is the antithesis of what we can experience at Roissy. The agent even talked to me about Mexico, told me I was lucky because of the weather and wished me a great trip with a big smile.

Boarding

I head for the gate. Boarding passes are checked at a counter before entering the departure area.

Now I just have to settle down and wait while the other passengers arrive.

Boarding starts on time. We are reminded that it is necessary to wear our mask: useful reminder considering that nobody wears it in the airport and that it is not mandatory anymore on the intra-Scandinavian flights. Notice the nuance in the announcement: “you must wear a mask on THIS flight”.

We rush in a long corridor, we go down stairs and… the plane is not at the jet bridge. It is under a driving rain that we join the aircraft, an A321Neo.

A quick picture of the fuselage from the stairs and I discover the cabin.

The business class cabin of Turkish Airlines’ A321Neo

I have always been delighted with the medium-haul business product on my various flights on Turkish Airlines and I was eager to test this new medium-haul cabin in which I had not yet traveled.

Unlike European airlines, which offer the same seat in medium-haul business as in economy and just block the middle seat, Turkish offers a really specific cabin with a real business class seat(a “recliner”) and a 2-2 configuration instead of 3-3 for the rest of the aircraft.

For those in the know, this new seat is a Rockwell Collins MiQ business.

Of course this is much more premium than what you can find on Lufthansa, Swiss, Air France, British Airways and so on.

The seat has an adjustable headrest and guarantees a minimum of privacy.

The legroom is impressive for a medium size aircraft (I’m 1m88).

Of course, it has a screen (unlike the above-mentioned airlines) and it is of good size.

This seat is very comfortable even if I find it a little less “cozy” than the old model which was really a lounge chair. I invite you to compare by looking for example atthis flight between Stockholm and Istanbulin A321Neo and, especially,this Istanbul-Gothenburg on B737 with a really amazing legroom.

But let’s not be picky: for a medium-haul flight in Europe it is a product that is far superior to anything the competition can offer and in general a superb product for medium-haul, if we exclude the airlines that operate medium-haul with twin-aisle aircrafts equipped with lie-flat seats (like Singapore Airlines between Singapore and Bali for exampleoperated in 787).

It’s time to fly.

The flight and the service

We will be only 2 passengers in business for a 5 rows cabin.

We are offered a welcome drink (non-alcoholic) and the light in the cabin is dimmed.

While we are taxiing towards the runway, the weather is not getting any better outside…

I take a look at the IFE. It is complete and well made but I am rarely convinced by the selection of movies on Turkish and, above all,I now prefer to leave with my own stock of movies / series on my iPad and hardly use the IFE for anything else than geovision.

The remote control is tactile, a standard now for any self-respecting airline.

We take off finally…as much to say to you that the sight by the window does not have anything interesting to share here.

I connect to the Wifi… 1Gb of Wifi offered for business passengers (10Mb for members of the loyalty program), it’s enough on a medium-haul flight but we’ll see in a future post that it’s stingy for a long-haul flight.

I am brought the menu.

I hesitate for a long time between the meatballs (a great classic on Turkish) and the shrimps… During the time of making my choice I am brought a hot oshibori.

The flight attendant takes my order. I ask her for advice and she tells me that given the number of passengers in business I can, if I wish, have both dishes. I gladly accept.

The service begins with the starters, cheese and dessert. Of course the service is done by the tray and not with the cart.

The presentation is successful and appealing.

The entrees are very tasty, fresh and well seasoned.

To accompany this I am given a choice of several types of warm bread.

I will trust the flight attendant with the wine.

My first dish arrives:shrimps, tomato sauce. Service by the plate of course…

The shrimp are impeccably cooked as is the rice which is not dry at all. The whole thing has a lot of taste even if I regret that it is not spicy.

The flight attendant confirms that there are still meatballs if I want. I confirm my choice and the meatballs arrive.

Already tested on a Stockholm-Istanbul flight before the pandemic, the meatballs are the link between Scandinavia and Turkey…

She also brings me wine.

Here again the meat is perfectly cooked, soft, and I regret once again the lack of spices.

I will have then a mint tea whose drinking will prove to be quite complicated whereas we enter a zone of turbulences. My napkin testifies to this.

For the end of the flight I will switch my seat to “recline” mode. Very comfortable.

I will finish with a vodka tonic that will be very generously dosed.

Finally I will not have put back the mask of all the flight since the staff did not stop serving drinks.

Landing and arrival in Istanbul

We begin the descent and soon we land in Istanbul. As always the taxi is rather longin Istanbul but we finally reach the terminal.

The weather is still rainy but I suppose the outside temperature is milder than in Gothenburg.

The announcement of the staff reminds those who do not know that Turkish Airlines is the airline that serves the most countries in the world: “Welcome to Istanbul, meeting point of the world”. Kind of in the spirit of their inspirational commercial with Morgan Freeman.

We are 20 minutes ahead of schedule.

I will head to the lounge to wait for my flight to Mexico City. See you soon for the next part.

The staff

I had a quality crew, on the other hand taking care of 2 people in business class leaves time to do things right.

Perfect attitude, very helpful, full of little attentions (from the second course to the refill of drinks that I never had to ask for…).

Even the only reproach I used to make to Turkish crews has been erased. The staff had indeed the annoying tendency to disappear once the main service was over, which was not the case here.

Bottom line

Turkish Airlines shows once again that it is at least two levels above the other airlines of the continent on the medium-haul routes.

A genuine business cabin, a friendly and efficient crew, a quality meal in sufficient quantity, what more could one ask for?

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