Turkish Airlines

Four flights with Turkish in the past two weeks - all in economy. Cape Town to Istanbul Istanbul to Paris London Gatwick to Istanbul and Istanbul back to Cape Town. All flights were on time or early. The planes were reasonably new clean and comfortable. The flight back to Cape Town was completely full but even that wasn't uncomfortable. The staff were always helpful and polite. The seats are reasonably comfortable with good pitch - my gripe is the foot rest which isn't convenient if you are tall and gets in the way when folded up. The entertainment system is varied and the screens large (no individual screens on the plane from Gatwick). Food was plentiful and tasty. And there are a few extras - a substantial amenity kit - sometimes in a tin. Slippers and a Turkish delight as a welcome sweet. And in addition their prices are excellent so it doesn't surprise me that they keep winning awards.

Business Class from Berlin to JRO with B737-900. Seats are horrible no lie fla. Catering bad crew throw the meals out in business and then disappear. Return was even worse at the airport we got told there was a 2 hr delay and then we missed the connection to Berlin and had a 4 hr delay.

Highly disappointing. We flew from Singapore to Germany with an infant and it was horrible. We ordered a bassinet and baby food and neither was given to us. The airline staff did not bring a bassinet for the child and no children were given food on the flight. Furthermore we had to wait for an hour for a bottle of water and the air- conditioning did not work which made it hot and stuffy on the plane. It was the biggest waste of money for the tickets and I would never fly with them again.

I travelled along with my Wife from Istanbul to New Delhi on 17th Sep TK 716. While booking the tickets I was assured by the travel agent that the plane would have the full bed facility in business class and that the plane would be A330-300. When I boarded the plane: The Entertainment System was not working. The reading lights could not be switched off with the result that the cabin crew used masking tapes to cover the light. The electronic switches to adjust the seats were not working it was worse than economy class where one can at least recline the seats. The Flight Purser remarked that the airlines have two similar such planes and they always have problems on these planes and this was a last minute change. I will strongly keep away from TKY.

IST to JNB and return. On both legs the business class was disappointing. The best part was the seat: the flight attendants lacked warmth and appeared overwhelmed despite there being so many of them. The food on the inbound leg was especially poor. IFE malfunctioned and had to be rebooted several times. One of the flight attendants spilled wine on me and then told me it was my fault. Never again.

Entebbe-Istanbul-New York JFK. All fights were good the check-in was professional and fast bag was overweight by 5kg and nothing said. Food was good good Turkish wine in glass bottles legroom on the 737 to Istanbul excellent not so great to JFK on the 777 good entertainment selection free wifi onboard the 777 plane on boarding was filthy when in Istanbul to JFK it really let the experience down to see this rubbish on the floor and not vacuumed. Attendants were pleasant but not smiling Turkish people are very kind its a shame it does not come across on most of the staff. I found the ground staff in Istanbul all excellent and efficient. I fly with Turkish a few times a year and will continue to do so.

We flew economy from Bangkok to HCMC (Saigon). The cabin was the dirtiest I've encountered. When I opened the tray table there was vegetable matter there gravy had dripped down the seat as well as what looked like cola. The floor hadn't been cleaned as there were food scraps along the floor mounts. No IFE at all. Food was a dismal chicken and cheese sandwich and a slice of cake. One of the exit lamps was playing up so the attendant whacked it with her hand - to no avail. Cabin crew were inattentive and appeared bored. This flight originated in Istanbul and flew to HCMC via Bangkok. Perhaps the crew didn't change in BKK? The plane was an older 777-300 and the seats looked like they needed a good scrub. By comparison the business class seats looked good. It beats me how this airline has won 'Best European Airlines' 3 years running.

Flight from Jakarta to Istanbul and on to Luxembourg in Economy. Good seats and service; very full flights but good service from stewards on the long-haul section. Child meals were suitable and served quickly with no problems and inflight entertainment kept them happy. Good selection of toys also helped. I enjoyed Efes beer and a good beef main course with rice. Overall a quality experience and made the long flight relatively painless. Will fly again within Europe.

Flew TK071 HKG-IST on 29/08/2013. There was a delay of 30 mins or so no explanation from crews. Inflight entertainment and the food was superb. However the cabin crew were so unfriendly and they disappeared after the first service. No water or beverages offering during the flight until next service (breakfast) 2.5 hours before landing. I won't be travelling with Turkish Airlines until they improve their customer service.

My first TK A330-300 trip my first Y experience on TK for a long time. The plane was full. I have never seen speciality meals delivered through the same door the pax were boarding very unprofessional. FA asking the gate agents to check some luggage (gate check) they had no idea how to deal with it. I have never seen giant garbage bags piled up at the doors during the flight as if there was no place to store it. Never seen one of the chefs coming off from his rest in a t-shirt carrying his uniform in his hand. It was chaotic for the whole flight constant shuttling of food trays bags drinks back and forth. Slow inattentive service. Good luck to the cleaning crew to turn it around on time. On the plus side most of the front lavatories were larger than I'm used to Thanks to the inflight entertainment iphone and my noise cancelling headphones I was happy. The Y seats were not comfortable for me for the 10.40 hrs flight. I hope I never have to do that again.