Review of Turkish Airlines flight Istanbul → Porto in Economy

This trip includes 2 flights;
Flight 1: TK 1451 Istanbul to Porto ( Economy ) Boeing 737-800 [ you are here ]
Flight 2: TK 1450 Porto to Istanbul ( Economy ) Boeing 737-800 [click here]

Pax for this flight
Business Class: %65-70
Economy Class: %80-85

Online Check-in:

Mobile check-in was quick and efficient. Seats were prebooked online.


I had generated a mobile boarding pass for this flight but I was handed a paper issued one at the check-in counter.


Entering the airport:

Can't decide which airport to go but the new one isn't open yet.


Entrance E2 at Istanbul Atatürk Airport is reserved for Turkish Airlines Business class passengers and Miles&Smiles Elite/Elite Plus card holders such as Star Alliance Gold members. It took 3 minutes to pass here.


Check-in:

There was only 5 Business Class desks at that time which one of them served only passengers without baggage, the waiting time was approximately 10 minutes. The check-in agent was polite to us and she handed us our boarding passes and baggage tags and we were all set for the flight.


Also it's possible to see the seat map at that time



Passport and Security Checkpoint:

The direct lounge entry is not suitable for M&S Elite passengers or Star Alliance Gold card holders but there is another fast track lane at Passport Check area 2 that was OK for us. Just in case this fast track area is only for Turkish Airlines passengers. No one was in front of us and it took 5 minutes to pass to the airside.

Lounge:

After the security checkpoint we headed to the famous Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul. Today we decided to sit and rest at the first level instead of the lower one which I prefer. The first level was crowded but there were empty chairs and tables at that time. This month ( June 2018 ) featured a special of Chinese food but due it was morning that desk served sandwiches with chicken instead.


Croissant & Simit & Açma selection for the day


There was also and omelette bar which the chef makes you an omelette of your choice in front of you. There was also a breakfast desk that included cheese selections, jam, granola and yoghurt.


Different types of coffee and tea was served at that time. Even in the morning, there were plenty of cake selections and some freshly prepared drinks.


Boarding Pass:



Boarding:

Gate 702 is a remote gate at the left-end of the terminal. It took 10 minutes to walk to the gate. Boarding was started when I arrived to the gate. There was a priority line but there was no ground staff at that line so I needed to head at one of the other two queues. I guess there was no priority boarding because it was a bus gate.



Welcome on board - Our aircraft 737-800 TC-JHL Kemah ( named after a village in Erzincan, Turkey )



Seat:

The seat was fine for a 4 hours 30 minutes journey. The aircraft was installed with personal screens. Pillows and blankets was offered and any passengers who wish to have one could take one from the overhead bins. Legroom was fine. I'm glad that seat 7D was empty so we had 3 seats for 2.



Before Takeoff:

Our route today and some flight information before takeoff



The safety video featuring Zach King, Star Alliance commercials, Turkish Airlines advertisement featuring Dr. Oz & a video about zero waste was shown before pushback.



Earphones were distributed when passengers were watching these videos.



We have pushed back almost on time but we had redirected to our parking position due to the low visibility in Porto and waited an hour at the parking spot.



In addition the aircraft wasn't well air-conditioned when boarding but this issue was solved after the first pushback.

Two A321 brothers waiting to fly at Hamburg and Brussels this morning.



TC-JSY arrived from Bucharest this morning.



Just after arriving back to our parking spot some chocolate was distributed by the cabin crew due to Ramadan Holiday.



The fuel car had arrived and we were told to unfasten our seatbelts.



After a wait of an hour it was time to pushback again.

TC-JPS an A320 with the Star Alliance livery arrived from Zagreb last night



TC-ATD, the only A319 of AtlasGlobal, had arrived from Tel Aviv and another Star Alliance livery aircraft ( TC-JRL A321 ) was preparing for it's flight to Bodrum



Another two TK narrow body aircraft. The 739 was preparing for it's flight to Budapest and on the other hand the A321 would soon depart for TK1849 service to Athens.



A Saudia A333 arrived that time from Medina



Some wide body aircraft at the apron this morning



TK1315 to Bilbao is ready for takeoff



TC-ATT is ready for his flight KK80 to Dalaman



A Turkish A320 will depart soon to Ordu Giresun Airport



A Turkmenistan 777 had also been in my radar. That bird was getting ready for its flight to Ashgabat



Last view of the airport



Takeoff:

Güneşli district



İSTOÇ industrial area



Başakşehir area & Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium



The new airport construction



Also some road construction for the new airport



Breakfast:

No menu cards were distributed and there was no choice for breakfast. It was the usual breakfast, Turkish Airlines hasn't updated the breakfast selection for almost 10 years. Scrambled eggs, cheese toast, olives&cheese selection, yoghurt, butter&jam, bread and a small water was offered. The food was fine and tasted good. After breakfast tea and coffee was offered by the cabin crew.



IFE:

Personal screens were installed on this aircraft. It included the Planet entertainment system and recent selections of movies and music. No inflight wifi and cellular data was offered and besides this 737-800 didn't had USB ports on each screen. Some Turkish 737-800 with the updated personal screens are installed with power supply and USB ports but this aircraft hasn't got the latest system yet.

In today's wide movie selection I chose the movie Rouge One: A Star Wars Story.



The seat pocket contained the Skylife magazine and Shop&Miles catalogue.



Turkish Airlines Europe route map



Our aircraft type indicated in the Skylife magazine



Mid Flight:

There was a mid flight drink service onboard this flight. One of the passengers in the front row asked if there were any snacks but the crew was sorry that they could offer nothing to him.



Flight Information at that point



Descending:

The entertainment system was closed 15 minutes before landing. A photo of the Maiden Tower appeared on all personal screens at that time.



Some photos of Porto before landing



Arrival:

The terminal from the runway



A Ryanair 737-800 from Rome had just arrived after us.



I guess that bird would park here.



After the FR 738, a TAP A319 to AMS started its journey.



An ATR and a FedEx cargo aircraft arrived from Liege this morning



Some private jets



TP453 from Paris Orly is landing.



Arrived to gate 10 while an UA 752 was pushbacked from gate 11.



Passport Control:

As one I was one of the first ones to leave the aircraft there was no queue at the passport control.

Baggage Claim:

Baggage was claimed at carousel 1 and my suitcase was there within 5 minutes. After that I had just headed to the tram which would take me to the city.



FIDS



Tram station