Review of Turkish Airlines flight Lisbon → Istanbul in Business

After the previous leg FNC-LIS with TAP it was time to head to the new ANA lounge waiting for the second leg of the day: LIS-IST on TK. This new lounge serves most of the airlines operating at LIS, including TAP and other Star Alliance carriers. Comparing with the previous TAP Premium lounge this airport owned lounge (ANA Vinci) has a good view over the tarmac, plenty of space to seat and rest, good WC’s but you have to pay 15,75 EUR to take a shower (!) which is something I have never seen before in other lounges. Moreover in terms of catering and newspapers, magazines, the choice is poor and much worse than in the previous TAP lounge.




The planned aircraft for the TK flight LIS-IST was a B737-800. Instead they put a A320 which was enough for the number of passengers of this first flight of the day morning departure to Istanbul Ataturk airport (TK operates 2 daily flights from LIS to IST). The aircraft would be TC-JPT, delivered to Turkish Airlines NOV 2008. Boarding through airbridge started a bit late so would be unlikely to depart on time. First to board were passengers with special needs or travelling with children and after premium costumers, such as C class and Star Alliance Gold pax. While onboard welcome drinks (juice, water, champagne) were offered as well as newspapers and magazines.



Doors were closed at 11h35 and the aircraft was airborne at 11h55, 25 min after schedule.




As the expected flight time would be 4h30 so it will not be possible to cut the delay on the departure. The service started just after take-off with the crew offering hot towels and the menus explaining the inflight service. Some pre meal drinks were also offered along with nuts and then the table was set for the appetizer plate. It consisted of assorted turkish mezes and beetroot flavoured hummus. A selection of cheese and ovenfresh bread were also offered at this time. The cold drinks include freshly squeezed orange juice, homemade lemonade and the more common coca-cola or sprite. Sometime after the crew removed the appetizer plate and was time to choose the main course. 3 options were available. My option was slow cooked veal cheek, grilled zucchini mashed potato and roasted red pepper, which was delicious! For the dessert they presented a mascarpone tarte with coffee mousse, which was also very tasty.




The meal service ended about 1h15 into the flight, so the remaing 3h15 I took some time to read magazines and newspapers. The flight was calm and about 1h00 before landing crew came again offering drinks and nuts. Before descending the captain informed us that we would find some congestion to land at IST airport, in fact we had to go on a big line over Marmaris Sea before landing at 18h25 (+ 20 min over schedule) and parking in a remote stand at the very busy Ataturk airport.




The baggage claim took 1h10 (too long…) and then I took a transfer to Karakoy cruise terminal (in the centre of Istanbul), arriving there 2h00 before the departure of “Queen Victoria”, checking in on the ships porthole. I put here some pictures of the one week cruise holiday, which included calls on Kusadasi, Santorini, Katakolon and Salerno, before ending at Civitavecchia. It was a nice cruise with excellent service from Cunard Line, as expected. The highlight is the library and bookshop as well as the art gallery a different touch from other cruise ships.