Review of Turkish Airlines flight Istanbul Lyon in Economy

Airline Turkish Airlines
Flight TK1809
Class Economy
Seat 9A
Aircraft Airbus A321
Flight time 03:45
Take-off 01 Aug 21, 15:00
Arrival at 01 Aug 21, 17:45
TK   #13 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 776 reviews
ChrisB
By GOLD 1128
Published on 5th August 2021

COMING BACK FROM ISTANBUL


 Hello dear flight readers! Today I will post a flight I was on yesterday, to took us to visit for the second time Istanbul.  Just like the previous time, this was a really nice long weekend in this "queen of cities".


Of course this is cliché, but what else sums up Istanbul as well as AyaSofia - Hagia Sophia - Holy Wisdom


photo 20210730_162407

Since last year the once Byzantine christian church, then Mosque, then Musuem has been reconverted to a Mosque again; to my humble opinion regretefully. Indeed you can't access to the first floor anymore where some christian and emperor mozaics were, and besides the presence of a carpet covering the 16centuries old floor, there are giant curtains to hide mozaics of Mary and Jesus (see the centre of picture).


photo 20210730_163108

Besides political considerations;
We book this return trip with Turkish Airlines, about 80 euros more expensive than with Air France. We choose this over AF, even though I am a Skyteam gold member, and it was more expensive, the flight was direct and AF had just one flight landing at 3am in Istanbul, which isn't the best way to start a weekend away!



Miles & More miles earned with this flight: 750
Miles Status earned: 88


 We checked in online using the app… that is reall well built. Nonetheless the lovely lady at checkin counter print another copy.


photo 20210803_093734

at istanbul - new airport


We arrived at the airport by taxi, passing by the brand new mosque of the airport.


photo 20210801_113339

You can tell how massive this building is.


photo 20210801_113359photo 20210801_113737

The airport didn't leave me a great impression when we landed there on the way out; however I lust say that despite the crowd; the airport has a large amount of facilities, it is clean and reall aerial - you don't feel oppressed at all.


photo 20210801_114848

Arrival is followed by a first security check.


photo 20210801_114056

I am not sure if this is done on purpose but with the sunlight, the openings on the ceilings look a bit like the crescent moon of the Turkish flag righ?


photo 20210801_114410

An amusing detail: this is the first time I see a denied boarding lounge!


photo 20210801_114834

Once we checked in and passed the passport control, you need to go through again another security check, before stepping in the realyl big food and duty free hall.


photo 20210801_124611

The terminal is that big that on the back of your Turkish Airlines boarding pass, a map is printed.


photo 20210801_130128-83506photo 20211110_170809

The departing boards huge, like the airport…


photo 20210801_133829

The view on B and C piers.


photo 20210801_133442

And finally the view on our gate; our A321 is on the left corner, next to an A330-300 Saudia plane.


photo 20210801_140434

onboard the a321


We were called twice at the gate: once for everyone to have their passports/PCR test done, and the second time to board, without priorities just like on the way out.


Aircraft: Airbus A321-231
Registration: TC-JSA
Engines: 2x IAE2533
Age: 9 years old
Layout: C16 Y164


photo 20210801_143434

And unlike on the way out, I made sure i was locked to my window seat this time!!!!


photo 20210801_143610

We tried the technique to book A and C, hoping B to be left without any passenger but the flight was full this time around too.
The pitch is similar as the A321Neo, the seats are of course much older as you can see with the old IFEs. 


photo 20210801_143658

Safety video was played on these old IFEs, while we were pushing back.


photo 20210801_143909

Taxiing took some time, the airport was full of planes as you can see.


photo 20210801_151225

Ready for take off… aligning…


photo 20210801_152756photo 20210801_152800

And go, take off!


photo screenshot_20210802-143955_video-playerphoto screenshot_20210802-144036_video-playerphoto screenshot_20210802-144044_video-player

Flying over the caspian sea just after take off.. A first for me! Also a parallel take off as you can see.


photo 20210801_152943

Flying over Bulgaria, when I started to watch my movie on the IFE.


photo 20210801_154759

and the service started about 45min later.


photo 20210801_161110

Just like on the way out, I was impressed by the food served for an economy class; although average in quality, in quantity that was nice.
The wine and water is also included for free; and the cutlery are made of metal, not plastic.
The only minus is the dessert, the chocolate mousse was disapointing; otherwise all things that are now rarely seen on most european legacies it must be said. 


photo 20210801_162142

And this is when we approached Italy from Croatia that the weather quickly got worse with a few turbulences.


photo 20210801_170230

It is surely not linked but more or less at the same time the IFEs of the planes suddenly stopped working. The crew came to each row to double check, and informed us of what they were doing a few times - to their credit.


photo 20210801_181627

So we finished the flying by looking out through the window, in the old school way!


photo 20210801_181840

Approach onto 35R


photo 20210801_182306

final…


photo 20210801_183443

and landing onto a wet runway!


photo 20210801_183550

at lyon - saint exupéry airport


Arriving at Lyon - recently reopened terminal 1


photo 20210801_183645

we taxied for a short time at a gate next to… another TK plane! Was it a late one to Istanbul?


photo 20210801_174312

One thing I noticed though at baggage reclaim: a lot of people in this A321 put their luggage in the hull, I am not used to wait that long anymore to reclaim my bag..


photo 20210801_180544

And a last picture before jumping into our car…


photo 20210801_182059

As the aftermath, here is the screenshot of our flight, where you can really see the route changes to avoid the thunderstorms.


photo 20210805_164532

Here is the miles account earned


photo miles
See more

Verdict

Turkish Airlines

8.4/10
Cabin9.0
Cabin crew7.5
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Meal/catering9.0

Istanbul - IST

7.2/10
Efficiency7.5
Access4.5
Services8.0
Cleanliness9.0

Lyon - LYS

7.9/10
Efficiency8.0
Access7.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness9.0

Conclusion

TK: My second flight with them, overall a good impression for a 3 hours flight in economy - better than European legacy carriers.
Hard product is overall better - IFE, plugs, WiFi, but no magazine.
Soft Product - a complimentary propper meal with free booze - dessert really not that good - that's why I am not putting it a 10.
Staff didn't manage to get the IFE working again, at least they tried and kept us informed. There was no Wi-Fi onboard, nor magasine. I am not sure how to rank the entertainnement bit.

IST: Brand new indeed, spacious, with a LOT of food and shop options. As a minus it is really far from the city.

LYS: Efficient, as awlays. Although it is a bit funny; baggage reclaim as on the older building of T1, not the new one - maybe not re-opened yet?

Information on the route Istanbul (IST) Lyon (LYS)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 3 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Istanbul (IST) → Lyon (LYS).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Turkish Airlines avec 8.1/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 3 heures et 40 minutes.

  More information

2 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !

Login to post a comment.