Turkish Airlines B737-900ER Business
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at 14:23 by FormerlyDoS.
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FormerlyDoSParticipantTurkish Airlines is introducing a new fleet of Boeing 737-900ER aircraft for longish ‘thin’ routes, such as West Africa.
Having worked for a week in Accra, Ghana, I needed to go to Istanbul for the next week and chose TK630, as the 2035 departure slot allowed me to work a full day. take a shower and then make the flight.
Check-in on Friday night was busy in the small Kotoka airport, but not chaotic due to good queue marshalling by ground staff. Although the TK queue was quite long (only 2 desks servicing the 739), I was guided to the front of the document security check and check in only took a few minutes, with a pleasant agent.
After that, I cleared immigration and security painlessly and went to the Akwaaba lounge, which is decorated anachronistically, but is comfortable enough, with a good range of drinks – there was something to eat, but I did not partake, since TK has a reputation for good in flight catering.
Boarding started a little late and involved walking across the ramp, during which a BA 777 arrived and parked about 40 metres away from me – quite impressively large at close range.
On the 739, I settled into a dark grey leather armchair with a seat pitch I would estimate as being 45-50″.
I took a glass of champagne before departure (brand unknown, but it tasted okay) and we left about 30 minutes late, heading out to sea, before flying along the coast with a good view of Accra, then turning on track to the NNE.
Dinner had Turkish mezze to start, followed by a choice of chicken satay, beef kofte or veggie ravioli. Once again, I had a glass of champagne and then reclined the seat fully (about 110 degrees, for a guess) and decided to rest, as we were approaching the lower end of the Sahara…….. 4 hours later, I awoke as we passed south abeam of Malta (my home) with about 80 minutes left of the journey. So I would rate the seat as comfortable for sleeping.
The cabin crew were efficient and professional, but not particularly pro-active, e.g. they did not provide water without being asked in the morning, which I thought was poor on a longish hop.
Surprisingly, there was no breakfast and we arrived at Attaturk International around 0645, being bussed to the terminal, with no dedicated coach for business and the apparent intent of the ground staff to cram everyone from the 739 onto one bus – this was unpleasant and not appreciated after a 6h45 sector.
Then there was the usual messing about of having to apply for a visa on entry, before queueing for entry – no immigration fast track for business class passengers was provided, although the terminal was quiet and the wait was very short.
One of the best aspects of the ground experience was that the priority tagged bags did hit the carousel first (after quite a wait) and mine were in the first ten.
From this point on the rest of the arrival was fast and painless, out through the customs area and straight into the Merc waiting for me, with a short transfer to the Radisson Blu hotel, which has a beautiful view of the Bosporous and is in a busy area, with lots of local restaurants.
All in all, not a bad flight, but the arrival was poorly handled.
18 Jun 2012
at 10:52
FormerlyDoSParticipantCX
They don’t use this type on the LHR IST run (AFAIK), but the A321s have a decent business class, with rather more legroom than BA/LH/LX etc and the catering is good.
I believe that they use an A330/340 on the 1125 departure, with long haul seats. I’ve used this before and it’s lovely to have a flat bed, but they used to charge a steep premium for this.
18 Jun 2012
at 14:23 -
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