My route for the trip
QR905 Melbourne - Doha ( Click here )
QR243 Doha - Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen ( you are here )
Istanbul-Doha is a route that a passenger can is served 7 or 8 times daily by Qatar Airways, Pegasus Airlines and Turkish Airlines from both airports. QR operated IST-DOH flights are operated with A330 aircraft and SAW-DOH flights are operated by A320 family aircraft.
Boarding Pass:
Security Checkpoint:
It was crowded that time in the morning but most of the checkpoints was open so I have passed through security within 10 minutes.
Waiting for the Flight:
The airport had many shops to visit and many restaurants to spend time. Due to the short connection I hadn't get a chance to have breakfast in one of the dining areas.
The Famous Teddy Bear
Gate Area:
Gate D20 was a bus gate and it wasn't crowded at the time of boarding.
Boarding:
Boarding had started 20 minutes before departure and all passengers were boarded in to the airport bus in 5 minutes. The flight was super empty due to New Years eve. There was approximately 60-70 passengers on board today
The Seat:
The seat was comfortable for a 4 hour flight. Pillow, blankets and headsets were on the seat waiting for me and this aircraft was installed with the old Oryx Entertainment system. Also the aisle and the middle seat next to me was empty during the flight so I have slept pretty well on this flight.
Before Takeoff:
The safety video was shown in English and Arabic. Then the cabin crew has distributed refreshment towels.
Our route today
A QR A320 was being prepared for it's flight to Budapest when we started to push back.
Takeoff:
Takeoff was a little bit delayed due to foggy weather and just after takeoff inflight menus were distributed by the cabin crew.
IFE:
The entertainment system had limited features than the system installed to an A380 but the entertainment program for January 2018 was installed for this flight. There wasn't a remote control and the touch screen didn't worked well and the system was slower than the one in the A380. As well the newer edition of the Oryx magazine, the Duty Free Catalogue and the safety card was in the seat pocket.
No wi-fi or cellular data was offered in this flight
Breakfast:
For breakfast, I've asked for the omelette instead of the vegetable vermicelli and the bread-butter puding. The tray also contained an orange juice, a croissant, a strawberry yoghurt, a muffin and jam&butter. The taste for this meal was quite good and I didn't expect this much for a short flight.
Flight information after the trays were collected
Crew:
I had no special contact with the crew except the meal service.
Arrival:
Arrived at Sabiha Gökçen Airport before schedule.
Some photos of the apron
A320 sisters waiting their flights to Berlin and Cologne.
After arriving to gate 204A, our neighbor was an A320neo which would serve PC1071 to Copenhagen. Also it's possible to see an AnadoluJet 737-800 at gate 206B which is getting prepared for its flight to Mardin.
Passport Control:
The booths weren't open as we arrived but after a 1-2 minute wait passport booths were opened and I was one of the first ones to head to the baggage carousel.
Baggage Claim:
After the passport control I have headed to carousel 4 which I waited my luggage to be delivered but then a notification appeared on my phone that my luggage wasn't loaded on this flight and would arrive on the next flight so I have just headed to the Baggage Services office.
The ground staff at the office was helpful and filled the necessary document in 5 minutes and told that my luggage would arrive to my address. Hopefully Qatar Airways ground staff called me at 6PM that evening that my baggage has arrived to SAW and would be delivered the next day. But, on the 1st of January at 2AM in the night my doorbell rang and my baggage was delivered safely and it had a tag that it was screened in SAW.
