Review of Turkish Airlines flight Istanbul → Vienna in Economy

Airline Turkish Airlines

Flight TK1883

Class Economy

Seat 22F

Aircraft Airbus A321

Flight time 02:25

Take-off 04 Sep 13, 08:05

Arrival at 04 Sep 13, 09:30

ISL VIE Istanbul Vienna

#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

By AirCanada881 4971

Published on 10th December 2013

RETURN TO THE GRID PART 9

Itinerary
1. 07 August 2013 - BUD-IST Y http://flight-report.com/en/report-4805.html
2. 08 August 2013 - IST-HKG W http://flight-report.com/en/report-4817.html
3. 10 August 2013 – HKG-CEB Y- http://flight-report.com/en/report-4915.html
4. 21 August 2013 - CEB-CGM Y- http://flight-report.com/fr/report-5627.html
5. 31 August 2013 - CEB-MNL Y- http://flight-report.com/en/report-5649.html
6. 31 August 2013 - MNL-KUL Y- http://flight-report.com/en/report-5656.html
7. 02 September 2013 - KUL-HKG Y- http://flight-report.com/en/report-5683.html
8. 03 September 2013 - HKG-IST W http://flight-report.com/en/report-5697.html
9. 04 September 2013 - IST-VIE Y LAST STOP

This report will be rather short in text but abundant in pictures, it is difficult to find inspiration to write after such a long and tumultuous journey comes to a crashing end with a simple intra-European flight.

Deplaning TK 71 we made our way to immigration which was a big chaos, people everywhere, there were some agents trying to form a queue but not very successfully, and adding to that, a duo of Middle Eastern women kept trying to creep past me and my wife which was kind of annoying as they were not very discreet about it.

Anyways the whole process didn't take that long and 25 minutes later we had cleared immigration and security and spat back inside the gate area via an escalator.

I did not find a good Samaritan like our beloved 007 to let me in the lounge so instead I did some spotting after noticing that our next flight would be, once again, boarded via paxbus at the basement gates of IST. I have to say it is really frustrating not to have free wifi for such a big airport…

In case you feel like practicing your language skills (or guessing skills ^^)

TK A320

A TK 77W parked next to the one we just deplaned an hour or so ago

This is TC-JJJ, kind of hidden, now being prepped for a flight to LHR. Notice the 5 stars in the background ;)

TK 737-800W

TC-JJJ

AF A321 to Paris. TK sends some A330's to CDG, much better option in my opinion

TK A333 to Paris

It is getting brighter outside, TK A321, LH A321 in the background

TK A333

TK Sheesh kebob

Special livery TK A333

I'll let you guess who this engine belongs to

And this nose

Erzurum

The sun has risen!

TK 737-800W

As I said, not too much going on. At some point I was sitting down with my wife, I had my backpack on the seat next to me and the gate area was getting full. Then these 2 German business men show up and one of them speaks to me in German and without really understanding what he said, he grabbed my backpack, placed it on the floor and sat on the seat where it was. I guess that'll teach me to be inconsiderate and rude by not offering them to sit there in the first place :-D They were also really loud and quite obnoxious.

Paxbusing it to our flight

TK A321

77W's

TK has a lot of these A321's

TK 737-700W

Here's our dragon

Rather small engines in my opinion

Flight full to the brim, in front of me I have the honor of seeing these 2 German guys again (we waited for the last moment to board), who were giggling and talking while a queue was forming behind them. So I got on my high horse and asked them to move lol

My view

The cabin. The row in front of us was the EE row, but the guy has his chair in full recline mode which was very uncomfortable for me. The FA's didn't even ask dad he fixes it despite being seated across from him on takeoff as the jump-seat is right there… -5 in comfort.

IFE

Pushback on time

Saying good bye to a few heavies

A final glimpse of my HK bird?

Taxiing

Moments later TC-JJJ pushes back and taxies right behind us on her way to LHR

Takeoff video:

Istanbul suburbs

TC-JRO is doing the honors roday

Flight path

This is Bulgaria?

A really nice FA. I asked him for refills on the lemonade and he was very happy to help :) Can't get enough of that stuff, the sor cherry juice and lemonade will definitely hel me in flying TK in the future :)

The tray

Omelet

Yoghurt with Muesli

Assorted cheese (and olives)

Everything is delicious, fresh, the portions are decent, this catering is a real winner and makes a big difference in flight for sure.

Wing view

One passenger requested to be dropped off in Bucharest

Soon enough we were in Hungary, flying right over Budapest airport which is where we had started this journey 28 days earlier.

Various shots on the city of Budapest

Soon enough our decent began with a view on the Blue Danube

Not much more to see, my camera battery which I hadn't charged since we left our hotel in Hong-Kong 30 hours prior finally died and I had to finish the report with my phone (including the landing video)

Landing video:

SN Brussels A320

5 stars at the gate

This is the best I could for a pitch photo, the seat in front of me still comfortably reclined

Deplaning, modern Y cabin

And the J cabin! Or should I say Premium Economy? :)

Indeed these seats are 100% identical aside from the colors used

Getting ready for the trek back to DOH

End of the report, thank you for following me on this journey.

Verdict

Turkish Airlines

7.9/10

Cabin5.0

Cabin crew8.0

Entertainment/wifi10.0

Meal/catering8.5

Istanbul - ISL

7.2/10

Efficiency5.0

Access8.0

Services8.0

Cleanliness8.0

Vienna - VIE

8.8/10

Efficiency8.0

Access9.0

Services9.0

Cleanliness9.0

Conclusion

Another decent flight with TK but I found the A321 to be less comfortable than their 737... Maybe if the seat in front of me had not been reclined it would've made a difference, I don't know...

IST needs big improvements in my opinion in terms of immigration efficiency and free wifi!

VIE is an decent airport, nothing to write home about, though I've never been in the new Star Wars terminal

I'd like to finish by thanking 007 once again who helped me put this trip together, I look forward to doing more flights in the future, hopefully more in the forward cabins :-D

Will

0
LIKES LIKE TO THANK THE AUTHOR

Information on the route Istanbul (ISL) → Vienna (VIE)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 4 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Istanbul (ISL) → Vienna (VIE).

Useful

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

La durée moyenne des vols est de 2 heures et 23 minutes.

More information

VIEWED

Istanbul ✈ Vienna

Turkish Airlines flight in Economy

Airbus A321

VIEWED

Istanbul ✈ Vienna

Turkish Airlines flight in Economy

Airbus A321

6 Comments

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

KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6731 Comments 2013-12-11 16:15:27

Hah...that cover picture is very deceiving! LOL
I hear ya...it's REALLY hard to do a FR on the last leg of a long routing especially when it's a short-haul. Last week after doing 3 segments back from Asia, I had a domestic US flight still to go before I was home. I took a pic of the plane from the gate and then started falling asleep as soon as I got to my seat--not to mention it was depressing being on a SH domestic flight after several exciting long hauls...so I said screw it, and didn't do a report, LOL. So kudos to you for making the effort and taking so many good pics!
I didn't expect the comfort rating to be so low on this flight. I guess TK is following the trend of all the other majors whose new generation Y seats are slimmer and less comfortable as a result. Nonetheless, the cabin is very attractive. It's kind of ironic that on the a/c that have the most desirable J configuration, the coach seats are bad.
Thanks for this great series and I look forward to new adventures! 2013-12-11 16:15:27

AirCanada881 AUTHOR 1616 Comments 2013-12-12 14:55:11

Thanks Kevin :) Yeah I know my pic was deceiving, it was on purpose lol. I would've definitely enjoyed the flight more in these wide front seats! 2013-12-12 14:55:11

lagentsecret 12184 Comments 2013-12-11 20:50:18

Thanks for sharing this FR

It's always really sad to end such a great trip

It was a pleasure to help you to build a part of your flights

IST is a chaos because of undisciplined people and I'm so happy to use the fast track lines

FIt's always really sad to end such a great trip

It was a pleasure to help you to build a part of your flights

IST is a chaos because of undisciplined people and I'm so happy to use the fast track lines

From my experience German people often have an arrogant and rude behavior so it didn't surprized me

I hope to see you soon in a forward cabin 2013-12-11 20:50:18

KL651 TEAM 4534 Comments 2013-12-12 16:41:58

Thanks for this FR and the serie.
Too bad Do&Co great catering is only found on TK and OS. 2013-12-12 16:41:58

A380B77W 4295 Comments 2013-12-13 12:32:35

Thanks for this very nice FR !

Great spotting at IST :D

And nice new cabin on this A321 !

Also good meal :) 2013-12-13 12:32:35

mc 16 Comments 2015-04-02 16:55:40

Hi,I'm a university student and I'm performing an analysis about airlines customer forums.

For my research would be very important to know the nationality of each writer...May I know your nationality??

Thank you so much! 2015-04-02 16:55:40