Review of Turkish Airlines flight Istanbul → Frankfurt in Business

Each year, my mother and I spend a few days in Jordan.

This year we decided to give TK a try but from FRA, as the prices from BSL were 50% higher. We took the ICE from Basel to Frankfurt.

transit istanbul

Back in Istanbul, we need to clear security again and this will be a lot of walking, since we were parked at the far end of the terminal.

The end is not even near :)

The first of the check point is not opened yet but there weren't too much people.

After security you need to go upstairs back to the main hall:

FIDS:

You can shop to death at IST airport:

business lounge turkish airlines

We self scanned our BP's to access the lounge but agents are available if needed:

After the entrance there is a big screen with always some kind of fancy digital animations:

We went to the same seating area as when we arrived 10 days ago:

Our flight is shown on time:

The soft drinks station is huge:

I quickly had  a look at the morning offer. Here a traditional turkish soup made with lentils:

Simits are made fresh to order:

Those dishes are the basics for a turkish breakfast:

Apart from the muessli :)

Cereals bar:

Cheeses, olives and jams:

Ayran, another typical turkish drink:

The lounge is pretty quiet this morning:

Kumru is a dish from Izmir that I always liked, more information here:

The omelette bar:

This part of the lounge is totally empty:

back to the terminal

We left the lounge early since our boarding gate was at the other end of the terminal.

TK A330:

Here we are:

the flight

Boarding was launched on time, I couldn't spot the plane nor was I able to check the registration of the plane on Flight-Radar. I started to wonder what kind of business cabin it will be. Full flat ? The dreaded old lie flat seats or the recliners? A few more minutes of patience :)

A twin brother:

The airport is huge, so are the jetbridges :)

Almost there!

At least! This is the best cabin TK has on its 33S fleet.

As we were looking forward to sleeping, this cabin was warmly welcomed :)

And it is a pretty nice and roomy cabin:

The only thing that bothered me a bit was to only have a small pillow:

Welcome drink:

Screens:

Excellent seat pitch:

Seat controls:

Handset:

The welcome drink together with nuts:

Followed by the breakfast menu:

A quick visit to the bathroom:

The center armrest can be lowered or pushed up for more privacy:

Another A330 next to us:

On time push back:

A321CEO:

And off we go:

An early morning start of Turkey and the black sea:

Service starts with a hot towel:

The tray table is pretty big:

This is the tray without the hot meal:

Hot breads are also being offered:

My mother skipped the breakfast to sleep and so did I with the main course. I was simply too tired and not hungry anymore.

Converting the seat to a bed:

Ce qui donne ça :

I slept for a solid hour and then watched the end of the movie I started on the previous flight.
A good thing was that my mother waked up an hour before arrival and the crew offered her the full breakfast tray. She just had a coffee since she wasn't feeling hungry at all.
The crew was really friendly and proactive on that flight.

Blue sky storm:

There are also cameras available on the IFE:

Clouds are getting thicker close to FRA:

Very low ceiling:

Almost there:

753 Condor:

777 AA and 763 DL:

Twice DL:

388 LH:

343 LH:

787 AC:

After a very warm farewell from the crew, we are back at FRA:

FRA is a digrace: wou need to walk ways to much in old and dark corridors, clear security, go landsite and go back to the luggage delivery hall. We needed more than 30' to arrive and the bags were delivered 50' after arrival.

My mom tried to go to the toilets but gave up as they were just disgusting.

We went to the ICE station, since we had a first class flex ticket we were able to use the Deutsche Bahn lounge. Nothing to write a home about but at least you don't need to wait in the station. The lounge isn't exactly what I would call warm and welcoming. Pretty bland in fact.

For drinks it is coffee, tea or some softs:

No snacks, no food on offfer. I just had a coffee:

Ginger bread was given only to ladies at the entrance. So my mother got at least some food :)

We then took our train back to Basel.