Review of Turkish Airlines flight Istanbul → Manchester in Economy

After 3 magical nights in Istanbul, I arrived at Istanbul Ataturk Airport just before 1130am for my scheduled 1315pm departure back to Manchester. Upon entering the airport there was a body and baggage scan before heading to Check In. The Manchester Check In Desks were next to vacant desks that had been used for earlier Turkish Airlines checkins for flights departing to Edinburgh and London Heathrow around the same time as my Manchester flight . Just before I approached the Check In, 2 lovely ladies checked my Passport and asked why I had been in Istanbul and were happy to hear about my first visit to their great city.

At the Check In Desk, a male Check In Agent welcomed me in a very warm and professional way. At the Check in desk is a small iPad like device which addressed me personally and asked me to rate the Check In Agent's service. I went to photograph the device but as soon as my baggage label was printed,the screen changed to the main homepage and the agent advised I can only rate the service once. I promised to give him a great review anyway ! I did ask if any passengers were being upgraded today and was told I would need to speak to Turkish Airlines staff. I did ask at the gate but was told by the lady that only Turkish Airlines staff could do upgrades and only for Gold and Elite passengers. In total I asked 4 staff about an upgrade and had I wanted to pay then Turkish Airlines would have lost revenue. Also, despite the Istanbul Ataturk Airport website stating that Wifi is free for 2 hours,the ladies checking passports before the Check In advised that WiFi is not free. I couldn't access the internet at all during my time at IST. Looking at the Global Hub that Istanbul is and will develop into even further,Free Wifi should be a high priority.

After Check In,there is another body and hand baggage search which concludes with a 3rd search at the departure gate. In total,3 full security searches are carried out before you board your flight.

I looked around some shops and noted that prices were a touch higher than in downtown Istanbul ! A final call was being made for an Azerbaijan Airlines flight to Baku and my God does their livery look beautiful ! I then noted that my flight had been gated on gate 205 so I made my way over to the gate.



Boarding Pass with Turkish Airlines branding and of much superior quality than the receipt like boarding pass issued at Manchester.


Last minute Turkish Treats if you haven't had a chance to buy these in Istanbul or just want a tasty reminder of your transit via Istanbul !


Our aircraft today,an A321 registered TC-JSL and named “Kullu” had arrived inbound from Frankfurt and would soon be operating TK1995 to Manchester. TC-JSL, was inducted in June 2013 and painted in Ramadan Mubarak / Eid Mubarak English/Arabic titles and livery from July 2015 - January 2016.

TC-JSL in Ramadhan Mubarak livery :)


On the next gate (204) was an A321 named Canakkale (TC-JSZ) ,being prepared to fly to Milan Malpensa.

"Canakkale" being prepared to say "Ciao Milano !"


At 1231pm,a prerecorded announcement asked for passengers to remain seated,that boarding would be by Group Number ( more on this later) and that passengers requiring special assistance should come forward. The announcement then wished a pleasant flight but nothing in the announcement was specific to Manchester, The gate screen however showed a scene of Manchester City Centre and current weather in Manchester which I thought was a nice personal touch.



At 1236pm,a member of ground staff loudly asked for passengers to start boarding as per their group. The groups are A,B,C or D as per the photo and you are assigned a group depending on your seat number. Business Class,Star Alliance Gold and Elite passengers were asked to board through Channel A. I would be one of the first to board from my Group and as such noted that the Cabin Chief was busy setting a control panel,possibly for the boarding music and was accompanied by a ground staff member in a hi-viz jacket. I then stepped onboard and the Cabin Chief ( Cabin Crew Supervisor) welcomed me in Turkish by saying “Hosgeldiniz”. Business Class appeared empty and the boarding music played throughout the cabin ( it’s very nice by the way and available on the Turkish Airlines website and youtube ). I made my way to my seat 5A and noted all seats had earphones on them. As my seat was on a bulkhead divider between Business and Economy,this time we had tv monitors on the wall in front as opposed to inseat monitors and blank bulkhead walls on TK1994 a few days earlier on TC-JSS. I asked an Airhostess standing near me,the registration of this aircraft as I was blogging the flight and she promptly advised TC-JSL.



Walking through Business Class to get to to your Economy Seat can sometimes be disheartening !


Turkish Airlines branding on the Business Class Rear Wall looks beautiful and glossy.


My first seat on this flight, seat 5A,the first row of Economy Class


As I went to fasten my seatbelt and couldn’t,I thought that either I had put on a huge amount of weight in Istanbul or that the belt was partly stuck ! I told the nearest Airhostess and she said she would get me an extension seatbelt. Just as she said that, there was an announcement “Doors Closed” and I noted that row 6DEF was all vacant. I waited for the Airhostess to come back and asked if I could try 6F as on the inbound flight,also an A321,6F’s seatbelt was fine. I was told I could move and in doing so I found that the seatbelt did fasten. There was a coathook on the seat as well as markings for where power outlets should be but aren’t. The Airhostess who had gone to get extension seatbelts for other passengers asked if my belt was ok and I advised it was. We both chuckled that I had not put on weight from one seat to another !

The view just after changing my seat to 6F


My favourite type of seatmate…but you can't see him/her in this photo…if you get what I mean !


Although Turkish offers excellent SkyShopping,there was no actual shopping service onboard. Lovely range of gifts but very small selection of men's fragrances. I have since found it is very hard to find a Sharklets A321 model in standard TK livery in 1:200 scale.


Once boarding was in full flow, the Cabin Chief and a Junior Airhostess welcomed passengers onboard. I waited for a gap during boarding to ask if my suit jacket could be hung up and the Cabin Chief happily took it and hung it up in the wardrobe. At least I could arrive in Manchester crease free !
Boarding continued until approximately 1305pm with many passengers connecting from Pakistan. Pakistan is a big market for Turkish Airlines and exceptionally busy. I am likely to fly Turkish Airlines to Pakistan in the future.
I then noted the ground staff walking to the back of the aircraft and the crew also walking to the back. I then noted a baggage canister being opened and bags being removed but didn’t see any passenger being taken off the aircraft.
Whilst still at the gate,the safety video was played followed swiftly by a 1 minute film which lists every country that Turkish Airlines flies to. And believe me,TK really do fly everywhere !
The Captain then made a bilingual Turkish/English welcome announcement advising enroute weather and estimated flying time.
At 1330pm, TC-JSL pushed back and I even spotted a BA sharklet A320 at a gate. It always feels nice to see a BA aircraft anywhere in the world having worked for BA for almost 3 lovely years.

At 1347pm,TC-JSL roared down the runway and just moments after take off,the engines were accelerated to speed away higher and faster as Istanbul is highly populated and this practice is normal over populated areas. Whilst rotating, I also noted a Singapore Airlines 777-200 getting ready for departure to Singapore.




Not long after take off,there was an announcement about meat and dairy products being banned into the United Kingdom from non EU countries. Shortly afterwards an Airhostess came around with a tray of cute mini Turkish Delights which come in a paper wrapper which has Welcome greetings in many languages.
Another announcement then mentioned that UK landing cards would be distributed and to fill these in block capitals for the relevant passengers. Menus were distributed at the same time as the landing cards.





After perusing the menucard, I decided that I would have the Cafe De Paris Chicken option and what a good choice as this was a visual as well as culinary treat ! I have to admit that Hummus as a starter didn't blend well with this dish and I feel a salad would have been a better starter. I asked the serving Airhostess,if possible,if I could also have the Pasta option if she had any spare. She smiled and advised she would come back once other passengers had been served. She gave me two warm bread rolls with my meal and with a smile. True to her word she came back later on with a full new tray but with the main dish as Pasta. The Chocolate and Fig Mousse was heavenly ! I have to say the catering by Do&Co is truly sensational ! Do&Co is owned by Austrian based Turkish businessman Atila Dogan. Coke with Ice helped wash down a delicious meal high above the clouds ! The SkyChef was a very nice gentleman and I told him I was surprised to see him working in Economy Class,having seen the SkyChefs of Turkish Airlines working exclusively in Business Class in various online trip reports. I mentioned that the food was delicious and the SkyChef joked that if the food was delicious he cooked it,but that if it wasn’t ( then pointed to Airhostess on other side of trolley and luckily she didn’t see ! )



The excitement of having a SkyChef in Economy Class.. He was very friendly,caring and helpful, a real asset to the FlyingChef team of Turkish Airlines .


The Delicious pasta option..the cheese sauce was delectable !


Nice not to have the earphone plug digging into my leg as it did on TK1994 a few days earlier.



Leaving Dutch airspace


Not long after this view of the moving map,I photographed some airports and apart from Luton being an obvious one,I don't know which others I have photographed. Could anybody advise please ?




Another walk through Business Class to see the pleasure that wasn't !



The Inflight Entertainment was exactly the same as on the TK1994 ( see flight report) but the moving map was set to one view and you couldn’t change it as you could on TK1994. The same movies,tv and radio was available complemented by SkyLife magazine,Planet IFE magazine,Skylife Business and Shop&Miles magazine. The earphone jack was on the front of the armrest unlike on TK1994 where it had been in the inside of the seat and had been digging into my left leg. I love how the main user interface states Welcome in different languages.There were no newspapers offered in the airbridge or onboard but I was fine with that as they are mostly in Turkish anyway. I felt the overall IFE selection is somewhat less than the longhaul flights of TK.

There were beautiful sunny views enroute and once we crossed Holland we entered an amazingly sunny British Airspace. Looking at the flight path on my seatback video screen, I believe we passed Birmingham and East Midlands Airports but maybe someone can correct me ? The airports you see towards the end of the reports are as we were over Coventry. Looking at the enroute scenery closer to landing, I could tell we were going to land at Manchester’s Runway 2. I was right, as at 1547pm, only 17 minutes late,TC-JSL touched down on runway 2 and into a warm sunny Manchester ! The aircraft docked at gate 23 and the Cabin Chief and SkyChef bid farewell to passengers. As I left the airbridge I could see the passengers who were about to experience the pleasure of flying TK1996 to Istanbul. Immigration was smooth, I scanned my British passport and was happy to see a green exit on the electronic display. I waited around 35 minutes for my bags however. Once my bag finally arrived, I made my way home excited and full of beautiful memories !

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

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


Verdict for TK1995

Superior seats,catering,IFE and a very hospitable crew all combine to create the reason why Turkish Airlines has won Europe’s best airline time and time again. Seatpocket content,IFE consistency and seat cleanliness is a very small area that needs to be improved on,but with a generous Frequent Flyer programme and superior inflight service, I would not hesitate for a second to recommend Turkish Airlines. Also,those bloggers who complain that Turkish Airlines crew are rude,arrogant or unhelpful,I would recommend to not take any photos of any crewmember without their permission no matter which airline you are flying with. As ex airline staff and as a good citizen, I also do not like to be photographed or videoed without my permission. Filming and photographing crew as you board is clearly not the best way to make an impression about your enthusiasm for aviation,especially in this day and age. Now go on,Widen Your World !