#15 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
778 reviews
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Flight-Report members and readers,
It's an honor to present this exclusive series to the community as this series would include 2 regular domestic flights within Turkey but the other two flights would be a beginning for me as a new airport is opened in my city of origin. Due to the first two months of opening, discounted fares were offered from that airport to some destinations starting from 9€ in Economy Class and 39€ in Business Class. Unfortunately, this series would only contain Economy class flights but I have 8 ticketed Business Class journeys from that airport to 3 different destinations in December and I expect to report all of these 8 flights exclusive for the Flight-Report community.
The first part of this series would be a short domestic flight on a mid-aged Turkish Airlines 737-800 to Antalya. Due that I will report 4 flights in 24 hours, this report could be shortened than its usual draft.
The routing for this exclusive series would look like this
Apologizes for the delays publishing these series. Ce série des FR's va être traduire en français dans quelques jours.
Route Overview ( IST-AYT )
Three carriers operate the specific route Istanbul Atatürk to Antalya. TK is the major carrier on this route operating more than 10 daily flights. Aircraft types varies by flight. AtlasGlobal also operates this route with 3 flights a day on their A320 series aircraft. In addition, the Turkish budget carrier, Onur Air operates two daily flights between this two airports.
I have completed the online check-in process for my first three flights for this trip at the same time. I have chosen window seats for all of the three flights. Seat maps and screenshots of the online check-in process are shared below.
IST-AYT
AYT-ISL
ISL-ADB - Worst mistake ever choosing 7A
And the conclusion page
Also TK had sent me an email notifying that I could check-in for my flight online. This email was sent before I completed online check-in
Boarding pass for this flight
Our journey would start at Atatürk Airport. The journey begins with the metro ride.
It's a long walk from the metro station to the domestic terminal
The entrance and the security checkpoint both took 5 minutes, there weren't many domestic flights at that time.
Today's gate would be gate 405, which is a bus gate. Boarding had started 40 minutes before departure.
After a bus ride at the apron, we had arrived to our bird named after the city of Bingöl.
After boarding the aircraft from the front door, I was welcomed by the cabin crew. Blankets were available at the overhead bins, so I grabbed one for myself.
Seat:
This aircraft was one of the oldest TK's 737-800NG aircraft in the new cabin configuration. The seat was OK for a domestic flight and each seat had a personal entertainment screen. Due to Turkish Airlines protocol, the IFE is closed on domestic flights. Also, mobile entertainment wasn't offered on this flight.
When opening the IFE screen, there is a photo of the Maiden Tower
Overhead panel
We had started our pushback on time and the safety video was shown from the personal screens.
After the safety video, a video about Istanbul Airport and the TK ad featuring Dr. Oz was monitored.
TC-JTF was parked next door, getting prepared for its flight to Geneva
Another A321, TC-JSJ was parked at the domestic terminal, it would shortly operate TK2316 to Izmir
And another A321, this time heading to Gaziantep
This A320 would head to Kahramanmaraş this morning
And this one to Sinop but ended diverting to Samsun
TC-JJN had arrived from Singapore this morning
TC-LNA was under maintenance
Views of the Turkish Technic Hangar
TC-JJZ, which had an accident in the last few months was visible, probably it would start flying after a short while
This 737-800 was going to head to Naples this morning
TC-JJO was under maintenance for few days but it would head to Houston that afternoon
Onurair Hangar
The runway
TC-LJD, one of the B77W of the TK fleet, taking off for a short flight for Izmir
TC-LOG was just behind us, an A330 which would depart for a flight to Kiev
And, a Turkish Cargo A330 which will go to Johannesburg was also in front of us
Now, it was our turn
Views from the runway
And, we're in the air
Hangars
Yenibosna area
Güneşli district
Mahmutbey district
The Coach station is visible
And a gallery of beautiful views from the clouds
IFE
As I mentioned before, the IFE system was shut down for the flight. No USB ports or power sources were available on this aircraft, the seat pocket featured the safety card, the Skylife Magazine and the Shop & Miles catalogue.
The theme of the Skylife Magazine issued this month was Istanbul Airport
An article about the opening of this brand new airport
TK domestic route map
Technical information about our aircraft
Another view over the clouds
Meal
In all domestic flights operated by TK, a kaşar cheese sandwich is provided with a choice of drink
More views from over the clouds
Lake Burdur
Kestel Mountain
Kovanlık, Antalya
Döşemealtı district
Konyaaltı district
After a maneuver over the Mediterranean Sea, we were continuing our descend
Lara district
The airport was visible
And we had landed on time
As it is off season at that time, Terminal 2 is closed for the winter
Terminals 1&3
The apron
First aircraft to spot was TC-SNO
And its sibling flying in the same airline, TC-SOH
TC-SEY had arrived from Izmir just after us
Tailwind 737-400, another AYT based airline
TC-SEI, another XQ 738 which would head to Hannover
TC-AEP & TC-SEO siblings in one photo
And we had parked to remote stand 92, next to this Anadolujet 737-800 which would head to Ankara as TK7023
At that time, this Thomas Cook A320 had arrived from London Gatwick
After saying goodbye to the crew, I had a chance to take a photo of our 737-800
On the ground, the ground staff directed passengers which arrived from an International flight at IST to separate buses as they need to clear customs. Some passengers were in the wrong bus so the ground staff needed time to check if everyone is on the correct bus.
The transfer desk at AYT was closed so I needed to exit from the baggage claim and head back to departures.
So, the first part of this exclusive series has came to an end. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next parts.
I would skip the conclusion part for this flight to publish the next reports in the serie as soon as I can.
IST
(+) Checkpoint waiting times
TK2064
(+) Nice crew & nice meal
(-) IFE system turned off and no USB or power ( -3.0 for that in the entertainment ranking )
AYT
Nothing specific
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 6 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Istanbul (ISL) → Antalya (AYT).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Turkish Airlines avec 8.1/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 11 minutes.
More information
4 Comments
Interesting serie to come
I hope you will have a business international flight from ISL
I'm eager to have a look at the International Business Lounge in ISL
Are you flying all these flights to reach a status on Miles & Smiles ?
"Also, mobile entertainment wasn't offered on this flight."
It's a pity !
Nice aerials views
No choice of sandwich ?
I don't like cheese :(
Uneventful flight
See you for the next one
"I hope you will have a business international flight from ISL"
- I hope so, not scheduled yet.
"I'm eager to have a look at the International Business Lounge in ISL"
- Me too, just a quick note that there would be two separate concepts, one for Business Class & MS Elite Plus members, the other one for Star Gold and MS Elite members. If the move-in isn't delayed I would experience the lounge that BA will contract, on January.
"Are you flying all these flights to reach a status on Miles & Smiles ?"
- The purpose of this serie was only for experiencing Istanbul Airport. But the next 8 Business flights that I mentioned at the beginning of the report is for obtaining MS Elite but I would try my luck for MS Elite Plus.
"It's a pity !"
-Yes, but they don't offer mobile entertainment on all aircraft, mostly on aircraft that isn't equipped with PTV's
"Nice aerials views"
- Thank you
"No choice of sandwich ? I don't like cheese"
- Sorry but no choice since 2 years. It's always a cheese sandwich on domestic flights.
"See you for the next one"
- See you and thanks for your comment
"that there would be two separate concepts, one for Business Class & MS Elite Plus members, the other one for Star Gold and MS Elite members"
Great News ! I'm E+
With two lounges it will be quieter and less busy.
I hope that there will be a direct access to the lounge with dedicated immigration and security for Business pax and E+ members like now.
"I would try my luck for MS Elite Plus."
You will certainly have to fly long haul flights to reach E+
"Great News ! I'm E+" "With two lounges it will be quieter and less busy."
- That is great news for you.
"I hope that there will be a direct access to the lounge with dedicated immigration and security for Business pax and E+ members like now."
- It doesn't seem that a direct access to the lounge would be offered because of the location of the lounge, but it will be a short walk from the passport control and security screening area. On the other hand, priority immigration and security would probably be available.
"You will certainly have to fly long haul flights to reach E+"
Yes, probably I would need to, probably in spring or in the summer, but I am planning to add new flights to my ISL trips as reservations for Adana and Trabzon flights have been opened. Just a reminder Trabzon flights could be done with a same day return but the ₺250 ow promotion fares are already booked but ₺599 ow fares are still available.
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