TK1172 / IST KWI / 737-800 WINGLET/ TC-JGH/TOKAT
After an uneventful flight into Istanbul, I had been hoping to fly Turkish on an onwards flight to Karachi,Pakistan. Due to misinformation at Manchester by 2 Turkish Airlines staff,I was told at Istanbul that there is not enough mileage in my ticket to get me to Pakistan,that I would have to pay around £400.00 if I want to fly to Karachi and that the Karachi flight was boarding. Queue lots of calls to Pakistan,The UK and Turkish Airlines Manchester ( who honestly really didn’t care).
After much upset and pleading with a sympathetic Passenger Service Manager, I was rebooked onto a Turkish Airlines flight to Kuwait where I would need to buy a ticket with a Shaheen Air flight that was flying to Lahore within 2 hours of landing at Kuwait.
I was very unimpressed with Turkish Airlines and deeply unhappy. This would go on to ruin my whole trip to Pakistan and caused further upset when I returned back to the UK by Turkish Airlines Manchester manager refusing to listen to my concerns. The Passenger Service Manager was nice and got me seat 5D, an aisle seat on the first row of Economy Class.
So here I was sat in Istanbul Ataturk Airport waiting to fly to somewhere I hadn’t intended and wondering what lay ahead. As it was now evening there wasn’t much scope for viewing aircraft but I did see a test tail on a 737 with what is now a revised Turkish Airlines tail.
I noted a Turkish Airlines flight boarding for Dushanbe in Tajikistan and it seemed a very busy flight that night as many many people were queueing to board. Tajikistan of course being on the Silk Route and the Tajiks being of Turkish origin. I further noted that a retail staff member and security agent were quite rude to me.
So by time I came to board my flight to Kuwait TK1172 ( flight number no longer exists ) ,I had a very very low expectation and just wanted to get to Pakistan (eventually).
I was one of the first to board and the Cabin Chief and a Steward were busy looking at paperwork. I boarded with no welcome but as soon as I saw the lush sofa like Business Class seats on this 737-800 I was in love ! On inter European flights it is unheard of to have dedicated Business Class seats,one often just sees a curtain separating Business and Economy Class and the curtain divider moves back and forth depending on the booked load.
Boarding then started in full flow as I sat in my lush seat, The Cabin Chief told an Airhostess about me being Airline Staff and the Airhostess had a lovely smile and came over to say Good Evening.
I was happy that at least something good had come of flying Turkish Airlines.
The meal I got on this Istanbul-Kuwait sector was from Economy Class and it was nicely cooked,hot penne pasta with aubergine, a grated salad,Tulumba cake with cream and a side salad with cheddar and feta…..washed down with Coke !..It was so good I had to order it again and it was delivered with a warm smile !
Inflight Entertainment came in the form of newspapers,SkyLife magazine and audio/video entertainment on drop down tv screens. The same IFE was shown in Business/Economy Class. I note one Airhostess made a sarcastic comment in Turkish when I asked the Cabin Chief if aircraft models were available for sale and that I decided against any purchase during the Duty Free service.
Airports I have seen Turkish in or have flown with Turkish from/to
LHR/IST/AMS/LHE/JFK/BKK/KWI/JFK
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3 Comments
It is nice that Turkish has real Business class seats on narrowbodies--although they are only one some aircraft. I don't know if this was the case in 2008--maybe they were on all aircraft back then.
Yes it was a ZED ticket !
I was meant to fly MANDOHLHE then decided MANISTKHI but ended up MANISTKWILHE !
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