THIS REPORT IS A PART OF THE FLASHBACK SERIES
Hi & Welcome to this report on my FLASHBACK SERIES. In this series of flights, I would share reports from flights that I've flown before registering this website. Just a quick reminder that I am the same human being with "turkishflyer1" on flyertalk so the reports posted can be the same as posted there.
This report would include a short flight from Izmir to Istanbul on one of the old Turkish Airlines 737-800 aircraft. At that time the seats weren't replaced with new ones so you would be able to explore the old design of the TK 738. In addition, the new domestic terminal was in construction at that time, so TK contracted the Comfort Lounge ( present: Primeclass Lounge ) in the international terminal and I would provide a short information about the lounge.
Regular up to date reports would be continued to be shared shortly after the flight date.
Flights that I plan to share:
TK 9 Istanbul to Los Angeles ( Business ), Boeing 777-300ER / May 2012 ( click ), Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul
TK 10 Los Angeles to Istanbul ( Business ), Boeing 777-300ER / May 2012 ( arriving Dec 2019 ), Star Alliance Lounge Los Angeles ( old TBIT )
TK 2312 Istanbul to Izmir ( Economy) , Airbus A340-300 / December 2012 ( click ), Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul Domestic
TK 2333 Izmir to Istanbul ( Economy ), Boeing 737-800 / December 2012 ( you are here ), Comfort Lounge International
LH 1305 Istanbul to Frankfurt ( Economy ), Airbus A319-100 / February 2013 ( click ), Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul
LH 456 Frankfurt to Los Angeles ( Economy ), Boeing 747-8I / February 2013 ( click ), Lufthansa Senator Lounge Z Frankfurt
LH 457 Los Angeles to Frankfurt ( Business ), Boeing 747-8I / February 2013 ( arriving Dec 2018 ), Star Alliance Lounge Los Angeles ( old TBIT )
LH 1300 Frankfurt to Istanbul ( Economy ), Airbus A320-200 / February 2013 ( arriving Dec 2018 ), Lufthansa Senator Lounge B Frankfurt
XQ 9065 Istanbul-SAW to Izmir ( Economy ), Boeing 737-800 / August 2015 ( click )
XQ 9264 Izmir to Istanbul-SAW ( Economy ), Boeing 737-800 / August 2015 ( click ), Comfort Lounge Domestic
LH 403 Newark-EWR to Frankfurt ( Economy ), Boeing 747-8I / August 2016 ( arriving Jan 2019 ), Lufthansa Business Lounge Newark
LH 1298 Frankfurt to Istanbul ( Economy ), Airbus A320-200 / August 2016 ( arriving Jan 2019 ), Lufthansa Business Lounge B20-28
ME 266 Istanbul to Beirut ( Economy ), Airbus A320-200 / September 2016 ( click )
ME 267 Beirut to Istanbul ( Economy ), Airbus A320-200 / September 2016 ( click )
List subject to change due to photo availability, dates are estimated and changes can occur.
As these flights are reported you would be able to click on the sector to see the FR. Not reported flights would be written in italic.
As this is a flashback report no route&trip overview wouldn't be provided as some exceptions can occur.
As this flight was a day return, I have arrived to ADB 1 hours 15 minutes before scheduled departure time.
IZMIR ADNAN MENDERES AIRPORT - ADB
Check-in:
As I had lounge access and there wasn't a scan boarding pass and enter process to lounges in 2012 in Turkey, I headed to the Business Class check-in counter at Izmir to pickup my lounge card.
FIDS
The lounge invitation looked like this
Boarding Pass
COMFORT LOUNGE INTERNATIONAL - IZMIR ADNAN MENDERES AIRPORT
This lounge is operated by Primeclass and it's present name is Primeclass Lounge.
Turkish Airlines contracted this lounge during the construction of the new domestic terminal which their lounge would be situated. The lounge wasn't crowded when I was there.
The lounge had enough food and beverages at that time. There were hot and cold dishes, some cookies, a soup, and some salad present.
My selection was chicken with potatoes.
Boarding:
Boarding was made on time at gate 226.
Our aircraft before I boarded
TK 2333 IZMIR ADNAN MENDERES AIRPORT to ISTANBUL ATATÜRK AIRPORT
Seat:
This aircraft was equipped with the old seats which are not installed on any TK aircraft. These seats are not comfortable and the handrest doesn't lift completely. At that time these seats were installed by TK because when the handsets are removed, they used to put a table at the middle seat to offer a wider Business Class seat.
Old design of tray table
Overhead panel
The route map was active on overhead monitors.
XQ aircrafts parked at the terminal
The domestic terminal was under construction at that time
After a short delay, we took of and just after the seatbelt sign has been switched of, the meal service begun.
The box included kidney beans, a cake and a sandwich
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IFE:
The overhead monitors were programmed to show the route map and the Skyline magazine was the only choice available to read inside the seat pocket.
The safety card was also present at that time.
We had landed on time; the international terminal was visible
TC-JPE had just arrived from Stockholm - This was before the aircraft had an incident
We had arrived to gate 221. As this gate was an international gate, we were transferred to the domestic terminal by buses.
The last photo of aircraft, which would fly to Kazan that evening
As I had no checked baggage, this trip had came to an end.
HI Eryorulmaz, thanks for sharing this Flashback Report! It's always fun to see how products have changed over the years. Even though 2012 wasn't all that long ago, TK's narrowbody product has definitely improved.
Hi KévinDC and thank you for stopping by,
TK's narrowbody product has been definitely improved, especially the seats and the entertainment system but unfortunately the legroom between seats has decreased with the new seats and most of their narrowbody aircraft has 30' pitches ( newest 738, newest A321ceo, 738MAX, A321neo ).
Despite their menu and the food quality on international flights had been the same for almost 10 years, their meal quality on domestic flights has been improved but that change was the replacement of a small sandwich instead of a huge box of food.
So, thank you for your comment and take care.