Hello and welcome to my very first Flight Report!
I have spent months reading all your great FRs, it is now time to write mine! I have tried to write this FR three times, but there has been some technical problems. Now everything's fixed (thanks Flavien!).
Allow me to take you back in time, in July 2015. I had to join some friends in Singapore. There were a few options:
-> Air France from Bordeaux to Singapore with a stop in Paris CDG,
-> KLM with a stop in Amsterdam,
-> British Airways from Bordeaux to London Gatwick and from London Heathrow to Singapore.
These three options had pros and cons. Traveling with Air France or KLM would have allowed me to gain some Flying Blue miles, and I could have tried the new Air France's Best & Beyond economy class. However, those two airlines were a bit expensive. So I turned to British Airways, which had the cheapest fare, but the problem with BA is that it does not fly to Heathrow from Bordeaux, and I would have had to buy a shuttle ticket. Besides, I would have had to spend a whole day in London: I would have needed to take the morning flight from Bordeaux to catch the flights to Singapore, which all leave in the evening. Same thing for the return trip.
This is how I turned to Turkish Airlines. At the time of the flight, TK had just passed from three flights a week to a daily flight, and upgraded the usual Boeing 737-800 (or Airbus A321) to a larger Boeing 737-900ER. And they had almost the same fare than BA.
On July 11th 2015, I went to Bordeaux Mérignac airport. The airport wasn't that busy despite the holidays. Immigration was passed very quickly and I went to the boarding gate.
Terminal A isn't very spotter-friendly unfortunately. This is a KLM CityHopper Embraer 190 getting ready for its flight back to Amsterdam.
Today's plane: TC-JYM, delivered in early April 2015. It was also the first day that a Boeing 737-900ER was used.
My boarding pass is ready and so am I! ^.^
Boarding was called at 2.10, just 15 minutes before the scheduled time of departure. As I was in the first group, I was among the first passengers to board.
The interior of the Boeing, which features Boeing's Sky Interior.
The legroom was sufficient enough. That said, I am quite tall, so I never really lack of space!
While passengers were still boarding, a FlyBe Dash 8 Q400 taxied to parking after its flight from Southampton, UK.
The IFE, which every passenger can use from gate to gate.
"Cabin crew, boarding complete!". This is great news for me, the middle seat is empty! Before pushing back, safety demonstrations were played on the IFEs. One of the ads had a Lana Del Rey song as a background music, it is called Brooklyn Baby and I like it a lot. If you have some time to loose, I suggest you listen to this song. ^.^
We pushed back at 2.45PM, 20 minutes behind of schedule.
We taxied to runway 29, which is Bordeaux's shortest runway.
We lined up, the engines roared, and we took off.
These are the earphones given during boarding. They were good.
After take off, some Turkish delicacies were given to passengers, along with the menus.
Around 50 minutes after take off, the FAs started the meal service. They were very nice, polite, and smiling. What else could one ask for? Also, everything was tasteful.
The cutlery is iron-made.
The infamous signature shot!
A picture of the magnificent winglet.
Trays are taken back as we leave Italy and fly over the Adriatic Sea.
Before entering Croatia, the FAs went back in the cabin for another drink service. I took a coffee with milk, witch tasted nice.
As there still were more than two hours before reaching Istanbul, I listened to some music.
Some more shots of the landscape. We flew over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Bulgaria. We also flew over Sofia's airport.
Before we started descent, I checked the toilets. They were quite clean.
It is interesting to notice that the Fasten seat belts sign was turned on during the whole flight. Anybody knows if it is a new safety measure?
We started descent over the Black Sea.
We lined up and got closer to the sea. I must say it was very impressive!
We touched down at 7.01PM Turkish time, a few minutes behind schedule.
After vacating the runway, we stopped nearby the runway for almost ten minutes without any explanations.
Eventually, we started taxiing again, but we stopped another time, right next to an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER, ready to fly back to Dubai.
Finally, our gate was available, and we parked.
This Korean Air Boeing 777-200ER is my last shot.
And this concludes my first FR! Thank you for reading, I hope I didn't make that much mistakes (I am French) and that the FR is complete enough. I hope to see you soon for the continuation of this trip to Singapore! ^.^
The fasten seat belts sign is often continuously lit on board Chinese planes too, and I do not know why. This seems to defeat the purpose of this sign.
The catering is very convincing for a flight of that duration
You did well to keep trying posting your report; this is a very good first FR. Thanks and welcome among the contributors !
Hello,
Thank you very much for your comment! ^.^
Indeed a very good catering for medium-haul flight.
I knew about the Chinese airlines keeping the Fasten seat belts signs all flight long. For the rest of my trip, the sign was turned off after reaching the cruising altitude. Maybe just a mistake from the FAs?
See you very soon for the continuation of this trip! ^.^