Review of Turkish Airlines flight Manchester → Istanbul in Economy

Hallo from Manchester to all the Flight-Report family ! I really hope you enjoy my first ever Flight-Report. 6 years since my last holiday abroad, I decided I would treat myself to a much needed holiday out of the UK. A random search showed that Turkish Airlines were offering a Manchester-Istanbul return flight for just £152.00 which is at least £100 cheaper than the usual fare. This was too good a bargain to miss and with my passport expiring just over 6 months from the date of travel, I thought the time is now ! To enter Turkey as a British passport holder, your passport has to be valid for 6 months or more. The online e-visa was very simple to process and once I received my confirmation,I booked my flights. I have travelled once with Turkish Airlines in 2008 from Manchester to Kuwait, the service was reasonable but since my last flights,Turkish Airlines has grown rapidly,now flying to over 200 destinations onboard a young fleet with renown superior inflight service. From Manchester,Turkish Airlines connects you 3* times a day to Istanbul and beyond and back.

*3 times a day in the summer and 2 times daily in the Winter.

When calling Reservations to book seats and make general enquiries,twice I spoke to two friendly staff in Bucharest and 2 friendly staff in Turkey. A further call was a very evasive lady who claimed she could not state her location in her Turkey,whereas,for my reference I like to know who I am speaking to and in which office. The seatplan for an A321 shown on thy.com and on the internet is not the same as the actual configuration of the sharklet A321s of Turkish meaning I only learned about the configuration when I boarded the aircraft.

On the day of the flight,I woke to sunny skies and Manchester seemed to be as excited as me as I set off on this exciting journey to a world metropolis ! Bus 43 to Manchester Airport brought me to the Airport Bus Station within 30 minutes. Meaning that I was checked in by 0810am. The usual journey time on Bus 43 is around 45-50 minutes.There was a 20 minute delay in departure at the time and I was highly impressed by the permanent plastic bag tags showing Turkish Airlines intricate floral designs.This is in contrast to the receipt like boarding pass with no Turkish Airlines branding at all. I then went onto the Spectator Terrace on the Level 13 car park at Terminal 1 to enjoy some aircraft viewing.

Exactly one week before my flight,TK1994 was operated by an A330-200,TC-JIL, ex Jet Airways. What were the chances that a video of TK1994 on 10th April 2016 would appear on youtube and that I would be at home watching TC-JIL quickly climb out over Manchester ? Yet both these events happened…enjoy here !

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WiseiVImz5E

Whilst flying a widebody on a shorthaul flight is exciting,it would have meant my assigned seat on row 6F would have become a middle row of 4 in between other passengers. I note that in the weeks before I flew,the same flight had been operated a few times by an A330. With Turkish Airlines having such a huge fleet,it can sometimes be a joy to find you are flying onboard a different aircraft,especially when the aircrafts are brand new. The 737-900 is occassionally used on the TK1491/1492 to Manchester but TK1491/1492 is more often than not operated by a 737-800.

I then decided to go and relax in departures. I had to go through security first which was done quickly as there were not many passengers at that time. Straight after Security, Turkish Airlines branding is very strong and encourages passengers to Widen Your World. After security, there was a large selection of shops all eager to relieve you of your cash but I didn’t really stop other than at an aftershave outlet to get re-scented ! From the days I worked at Manchester Airport, I noted that announcements were now done via recorded messages and in English and the language of the destination. I heard announcements in Arabic,Dutch and Spanish. Nice touch.

Turkish Airlines Check In Manchester Airport Terminal 1.


Sales Receipt ? No,a Boarding Pass believe it or not. This one is issued at the Gate.



Permanent bag tags with beautiful Turkish Airlines branding.


Turkish Airlines' commitment to Manchester is evident as shown here,just after clearing security at Manchester Airport Terminal 1.



Some history behind Turkish Airlines at Manchester Airport. 2016 marks 20 years of Turkish Airlines flying from Manchester to Istanbul. The 3 x weekly service commenced in 1996 on Tuesdays,Thursdays and Saturdays using 737-400 aircraft. The flights then increased to 5 x a week and on the 737-800. Eventually flights became daily using A321/737-900 aircraft to the current 3 x daily operation using A321s/737-800s. Surprise visits have often been made from the A340,A330,A320 and even the 777 !
For several years Turkish Airlines were the official sponsor of Manchester United Football club ; the inflight safety video during the sponsorship featured players from the club ! Occasional 737-800/900 "sharklet" flights continue to operate now and again.

In Departures I began checking my emails,making notes for this trip report and notifying my family and friends that I had checked in. They all knew this trip was a big deal for me. The Departure board kept asking passengers to wait in the Departure Lounge. Then came a note that the gate would be advised in 5 minutes. My was that a long 5 minutes.



I would urge travellers to exercise caution when using Google for flight information. Google stated that the inbound flight TK1993 would be arriving at 1036am, however at 1009am when walking to gate 27 for my flight, I noted that the inbound aircraft was already taxying over !

TK1994 would be operated today by TC-JSS,a brand new A321 with Sharklet wings which commenced service on 1st June 2015. The aircraft had flown to Tehran and Tunis the day before and then flown a Rome rotation and had been parked all night at Istanbul Ataturk so I was unsure why the aircraft was late inbound. This A321 is named Duzce,after the Turkish city. Sitting at gate 27, I could see the passengers who had arrived on the Inbound TK1993 and I couldn’t wait to get onboard and experience the brand new Turkish Airlines.
Boarding commenced at 1050am,initially for Business Class,Star Alliance Gold and Elite members.


Row 16-36 was then boarded and finally all remaining passengers. Finally my time came to board ! There was a huge array of mainly Turkish newspapers on a trolley in the airbridge ( see below ) and I was feeling afraid of the Crew having read not so positive reviews on Turkish Airlines crew.

As I walked down the airbridge, I could see a young female crewmember ( who I would later find out was actually the Cabin Chief ) or Cabin Crew Manager in everyday speak and a female SkyChef welcoming passengers onboard. As soon as I stepped onboard, I said “Gunaydin” which is Turkish for Good Morning. Both crewmembers were really pleased to hear me say this and had wide smiles which would set the tone for the whole flight. Inside the cabin,Turkish Airlines new boarding music was playing and sounded really nice ; modern yet with Turkish elements. The aircraft smelt brand new ! I could see more cabin crew throughout the cabin smiling and welcoming passengers onboard. I got to my seat to take a quick photo of the seat and an Airhostess 2 rows away smiled at me and I said Gunaydin and she also responded with Gunaydin.



My seat, 6F, had a neatly crossed red seat belt and was in smart black leather and red stitching trim with a red leather headrest cover with the Turkish Airlines logo. The Cabin Presentation was immaculate and legroom amazing.


Ahead of the safety video being played,an Airhostess came to the bulkhead rows and showed us how to pull out our inseat video screen to view the safety demonstration.


I asked a nearby Airhostess if she could hang up my jacket and she offered to fold it neatly and put it in an empty overhead locker. I said Tesekkur Ederim ( Thanks) in Turkish and she smiled.The same Airhostess would later replace my earphones after part of the jack fell off,not due to a fault but rather my mistake. She replaced with sincerity and another smile. The boarding process continued and then once doors were closed,the safety video was played whilst the aircraft was still at Gate 27 followed by a 1 minute film listing every country which Turkish Airlines flies to.

We pushed back at 1120am and the only male crewmember came round with earphones and smiled as he handed these out. A Turkish and English announcement was made by the Captain about enroute weather,estimated time of arrival and to wish a nice flight. The seatpocket had a SkyLife inflight,Skylife Business,Invest in Turkey brochure and a Planet IFE guide but no Shop and Miles brochure.



At 1135,the engines began roaring and as we positioned onto Runway 2,we began our take off roll. Unusually this morning, a lot of aircraft were taking off and turning left,instead of the usual banking to the right.

TC-JSS on rotation from Manchester as a different TK1994 flight !


Post take off Turkish Delight..delicious !


Menus were handed out and the meals were served and consumed within 1 hour of take off ; the food was delicious and very filling although some cheese on the Penne Pasta would have been nice and the tomato sauce could have been a but more spicier. See the photos and menu for choice and presentation. Some catering is done at Manchester is done by AlphaLSG,as the high standards of Do&Co, an Austrian catering company owend by the Turkish Austrian Businessman Atila Dogan are too high to be imitated from Manchester. The Wild Berry Yoghurt was fruity and mousse-like ; the marshmallow cream really gave the dessert a decadent kick. The main hot dish comes in a reusable plastic tulip shape and is placed on top of a porcelain dish with a Turkish Airlines floral design liner. This is exceptionally high class for Economy Class in Europe. The cutlery is steel and enhances the elegance of the fine dining experience one never experiences in Economy Class inside Europe. The meal tray also has a beautifully scented refresher towel to scent your hands with after the meal service.



Post Meal Tea/Coffee service. The Ferrero Rocher is my own.


The bulkhead walls were bare with no monitors but we did have inseat monitors offering a range of movies,tv,games,documentaries and radio. Being seated on the bulkhead row means you have to stow (on this particular aircraft) your inseat video screen before landing and as there is no wall mounted tv monitor in front of you,you miss the "Thank You For Flying With Turkish Airlines" message upon landing. I listened to some Donna Summer and Ellie Goulding and some Turkish music. I always find pop music sounds that bit better above the clouds ! The moving map had a variety of views including cockpit views and I loved seeing my flight’s progress from different angles.


The full range of Turkish Airlines magazines and seatpocket content


I was very pleasantly surprised to see fresh pillows being handed out to all passengers as this was highly unexpected and certainly not the norm on any European airline.


On popular forums,it can regularly be read that Turkish Airlines crew are meant to be rude,unhelpful and not very smiley. Can I please set the record straight that I have only ever seen such friendlier,happier and helpful cabin crew on Qatar Airways, a 5 star airline. The cabin crew worked tirelessly through the flight and always had a smile for every passenger. When I asked the distance from Istanbul Ataturk Airport to SultanAhmet ( the are where the Blue Mosque is) three crew members kindly told me that it would be between 40-60 minutes depending on traffic(I would discover that it would be 40 minutes). During meal service I asked the serving Airhostess if the ice tongs had been in contact with alcohol and she smiled and said that they hadn’t. I later told her the meal was delicious and she smiled again. The Cabin Crew are exceptionally professional.well groomed,pleasant and helpful. Top marks even further for understanding my Scottish accent too. I thanked all the crew for a lovely service and they were very happy including the two Senior Crew members.

We then started our descent around 1700pm+ and as Istanbul began coming into view,one minute we had populated areas,the next blue Mediterranean waters as shown in the photos. At 1715pm,30 minutes late,we landed at Istanbul Ataturk Airport,the landing music ( same as the boarding music) briefly played,before a Turkish and English landing announcement was made. I used to like it when the arrival destination was mentioned and the line “Thank you for flying with us and we look forward to meeting onboard another Turkish Airlines flight soon”. Now however,the arrival destination is not even mentioned,a simple request is made to keep seatbelts fastened and passengers are thanked for flying Turkish Airlines, a member of Star Alliance. We didn't park up at the gate until 1740pm. Immigration was swift and I loved the free maps of Istanbul just before passport control.



One of our sisterships TC-JSR "Kırklareli"


Another sistership TC-JSH named "Van"


Farewell TC-JSS and thank you for flying us in comfort and with high level care from Manchester to Istanbul Ataturk ! This aircraft would leave as TK1983 to London Heathrow shortly and then perform flights to Amsterdam,Cologne and Doha the next day.



Airports I have seen Turkish in or have flown with Turkish from/to

LHR/IST/AMS/LHE/JFK/BKK/KWI/JFK