THY TURKISH AIRLINES

LONG HAUL

Business Class

Economy Class

SHORT HAUL

Business Class

Economy Class

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  Turkish Airlines Passenger Comments

TRAVEL SUMMARY

Business Class : the long haul Business Class seats are angled lie-flat (reclining to 160 degrees), in a seat pitch of 61 inches, and seat width of 21 inches. These are reasonably comfortable for an "angled" lie-flat format, although not matching Best Practice of Business class that now dictates fully flat seats. These newer seats are only fitted on some of the TK A330 and A340 aircraft fleet, although Turkish Airlines will have the whole long haul fleet reconfigured during 2008. Standards of short haul Business class seats are fair, offering a mix of 3x2 and 2x2 seat layouts. Again, the short haul business class seats are currently being upgraded. Onboard catering standards for business class are well ranked, and a fairly high and consistent quality level is being achieved for long and short haul flights. TK catering is now supplied by DO & CO.

Economy Class : seat pitch on long haul Y class seats is between 33-34 inches (31-32 on A310) and the seats offer a reasonably good standard of comfort. Seating is being upgraded across many of the A330/A340 aircraft, to provide PTV screens across all these long haul aircraft. Short haul seat comfort is fairly standard, with a seat pitch of 30-31 inches being the norm. Catering standards are good for Turkish Airlines economy class, and this was well ranked per business class levels.

Inflight Entertainment : a mixture of product types are currently offered, but the new AVOD being installed by TK across the long haul fleet will provide 150 movies and 300 songs - with 15 inch touch screen monitors in Business Class, and 9 inch touch screen monitors in Economy class. On short haul routes, some aircraft offer drop down screen IFE entertainment, and in Business class passengers will be supplied portable Media Player - with a 7 inch screen and offering movies, songs, game choices.

Staff Service : the quality of staff service has improved across airport and onboard areas for TK in the past year, and whilst an airline this size will never achieve full consistency, total quality levels are now reaching a good level. Staff are generally quite enthusiastic, offering a polite and courteous service, and language standards are particularly improved amongst the younger members of staff. Our of service cabin presence is sometimes rather slow in Economy class on long haul flights.

AIRPORT : the home base airport at Istanbul has been greatly extended and improved, and now offers a reasonable core product quality for Turkish Airlines. Standards of check in and transit service are generally efficient and polite, without long queues. Some passengers may find arrivals rather confusing and sometimes slow baggage delivery, whilst boarding procedures tend to be rather disorderly and lacking the required seat row organisation. The Turkish Airlines CIP Business class lounge is a large, pleasant area, and offers a choice of light snacks and sandwiches, hot and cold beverages, computers for internet access - free wifi is available, but seems very difficult for many customers to connect to. Washrooms are basic, and shower facilities whilst available, are not at the expected quality level for this home base lounge.

VERDICT : a reliable and dependable airline that is going through a general transformation to improve product and service delivery standards. Upgraded in 2007 from a 3 Star to 4 Star ranking status, Turkish Airlines is a company we are happy to recommend as offering a generally good customer service experience, and some good connecting flight options through their home base airport.

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