To begin my journey home from Istanbul, I flew to London first on a Turkish Airlines A330-300 in economy class. The flight was late (as always), but quite pleasant onboard.
Turkish Airlines A330-300 Economy Class Review (IST-LHR)
You might recall the saga surrounding my tight connection in London. In my experience, Turkish Airlines simply does not run on time and this flight was no exception. Planning tight connections around a Turkish Airlines flight is foolish.
> Read More: UPDATE – My 60-Minute London Heathrow Connection Went Sideways…
By the way, this was a $749.10 one-way ticket booked two days before departure into W-class, that took me from IST-LHR-ORD-LAX. Not bad, especially considering I was able to upgrade both United segments with 40 PlusPoints. I’ll review my London – Chicago flight tomorrow.
I arrived at Istanbul Airport about two hours before my flight…via taxi (always a mystery in Istanbul).
Because of my Star Alliance Gold status, I was able to use the Miles & Smiles premium check-in area, even though my flight was in economy class.
I asked about an upgrade during check-in and was told the price was 499 USD…not bad, but not worthwhile for a relatively short flight on an A333 with a regional business class seat (non-lie-flat).
There are two security checks at IST Airport, one as you enter the airport and then a second after passport control. Thankfully, lines moved relatively quickly.
After spending a half hour in the Miles & Smiles lounge, I made my way to the gate so that I could be among the first to board.
Boarding began on schedule one hour before departure. I was hopeful we could finish boarding quickly and push back early…
Turkish Airlines 1985
Istanbul (IST) – London (LHR)
Saturday, January 27
Depart: 01:05 PM
Arrive: 02:10 PM
Duration: 04hr, 05min
Distance: 1,550 miles
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300 (33S)
Seat: 12K (Economy Class)
We boarded through door 1L so I was able to walk through business class, which is nice enough (a much better seat than you’ll get on British Airways when flying the same route), but a far cry from the longhaul lie-flat product on other Turkish A330-300s:
By the way, I reviewed this same flight (TK1985) in business class a few years back here.
Seat
Turkish Airlines has no premium economy cabin (any longer) so economy class on this A330-300 includes 261 seats (40 in business class).
These seats include an adjustable headrest and 31 inches of legroom, with three inches of recline and a seat that is 17.5 inches wide. There are no individual air vents. There was also no in-seat A/C power in economy class, though there was a USB-A port on the seatback monitor.
Unfortunately, I chose a window seat that had no window…so do avoid row 12 if you enjoy looking out during the flight. Thankfully, I shared a window with row 13 so I could look out a bit. I also had the whole row to myself.
A pillow was placed on each seat and blankets were available by request.
IFE + Wi-Fi
The full library of movies, TV shows, games, music, Islamic religious material, and a moving fight map were available. Complimentary disposable headphones were offered prior to departure. The system could be controlled by touchscreen or via a passenger service unit located below the monitor.
Wi-Fi internet was theoretically available for purchase, but idd not work on this flight (I confirmed with a flight attendant that it was “down”).
Turkish Airlines offers several complimentary internet options for its Miles & Smiles members and business class passengers, including:
| Pass Type | Complimentary Quota |
| Business Class Passengers with Miles&Smiles Elite or Elite Plus Membership | Unlimited Internet |
| Business Class Passengers | 1 GB and Unlimited Messaging |
| Miles&Smiles Elite or Elite Plus Members | 400 MB and Unlimited Messaging |
| Miles&Smiles Classic Plus Members | 250 MB and Unlimited Messaging |
| Miles&Smiles Classic Members | Unlimited Messaging |
Those without Miles & Smiles membership can buy packages at the following rates:
| Unlimited Messaging | 5 USD |
| 100 MB | 8 USD |
| 250 MB | 15 USD |
| Unlimited Internet For Short Haul | 15 USD |
| Unlimited Internet For Long Haul | 35 USD |
We flew over central London before landing at LHR and were treated to some beautiful views out the window:
Food + Drink
A complimentary hot lunch was served after takeoff, with a choice between “beef” or “pasta.” Both are safe bets, but I like the beef ex-Istanbul (typically a lula kebab) and my lunch included a salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, with olive oil dressing), bread roll, and vanilla pudding. The beef was served with rice and ratatouille and had a cheese coating on top.
I appreciate that Turkish Airlines uses metal cutlery instead of plastic (or even worse, paper).
Beverages, including beer and wine, were complimentary. I had sparkling water to drink.
The meal service certainly distinguishes Turkish Airlines from its European peers, even carriers like KLM and Air France which still offer a decent snack onboard. I appreciated the meal and found it better than the dinner in business class I had on my connecting United flight…
Lavatory
Economy class has six lavatories: two in the front, two in the middle, and two in the back of the cabin. The lavatory I used was clean and offered skin creme and eau de toilette from Acqa.
Service
The crew was cordial onboard, though not overly friendly. There were no smiles. The meal service was robotic, as was the trash collection. No other beverages were offered after the initial lunch service.
CONCLUSION
We landed late at LHR and I had to sprint to get to my gate…but I made my connection.
Turkish Airlines is just fine in economy class, especially on a lightly-filled flight when the seat next to you remains open. It’s always a treat to fly in business class but the economy class onboard experience on Turkish Airlines was not bad at all.
“The meal service certainly distinguishes Turkish Airlines from its European peers”
TK is not European airline, it is Western Asian. Türkiye is not in Europe(3% geographically), along with Central Asian Kazakhstan(10% geographically in Europe) and Northern Asian Russia(approx.23%).
That is certainly debatable.
Dear oh dear, I think you need a geography lesson.
You will find if you look that Istanbul straddles Europe and Asia and Istanbul Airport (IST) is definitely in Europe.
That is irrelevant. Airport or the capital location does not make the whole country or the national airline European when only 3% is geographically there.
Is this some sort of Russian fixation?
Niet, tovarish Klint! 😉
When something has only 3%, the rest of 97% could not be voided because it has absolute majority. Something like 12% of one race make 85% of all crimes 🙂
Lol ignoring all of the historical context you’re apparently unfamiliar with, virtually every flight award chart in the world disagrees with you which, given the place you’re posting this, counts for a lot.
You may want to look Miles&More award chart and especially the Europe section.
Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia are classified as part of the eurozone. A bunch of European countries.
In the other hand Zimbabwe rugby team has more white players than French football(the real football) team. 🙂
TK award chart added Netherlands Antilles to North America while it is clearly in South America. Therefore award charts do not mean nothing geographically, just redemption business.
Matthew’s comparison is absolutely valid as TK is by far the best option for flying between Western Europe and the Balkans, in both classes of service – indeed the onboard experience in TK Y is better, and often more expensive, than in Lufthansa C. When flying from/to ATH, SOF, SKP, SKG, OTP etc, the detour via IST is minimal and often outweighed by more frequent and/or better-timed connections.
I concur except Lufthansa part. I did do a short inter European flight w Lufthansa last week and had to pay 60Eur for one piece of checked-in luggage where THY never charges for checked luggage within allowance limits. In short, Lufthansa may seem less expensive on the surface but behaves like a low cost airline when amenities added.
All Lufthansa business class fares include luggage- obviously TK is superior when comparing the same class of service, but my point is that, for flights within Europe, Turkish economy is probably better than Lufthansa business, and it can easily be higher priced too!
Turkish Airlines has its largest hub at Istanbul Airport which is on the European side of the Bosphorus. That is why Skytrax lists it as a European Airline and hence has won the award for the best European airline.
What are you trying to say? That turkiye is asian?
We are anatolian,balkan mixtured peoples so ,yes southern european….
I think it’s fair to say that economy class service between LHR-IST outstrips business class on British Airways on every occasion.
Does BA serve a comparable meal on that some route, in terms of quantity at least if not quality?
These days, British Airways offers buy onboard junk food.
Even when it used to serve a meal on this route years ago, it was not as good. I featured it in one of my old Meal of the Week reports.
I meant the BA business class meal – neither it nor the seats are up to TK economy standards.
What would you have done if you had landed 20 mins later? Reached out to United on twitter? Found a United desk? Would an option to move to a direct lax flight be possible? Would you have stayed in business class if they had to move you?
I wanted to take the nonstop to LA, but business was full (or I would have moved anyway…it left at same time as ORD).
My backup would have been the 6pm to EWR with an overnight. Not ideal, but I would have been home by late morning.
I flew Business class on this aircraft, same route. It’s was okay but definitely not a stand out product. I found the inflight service again okay but nothing memorable with a disinterested crew. I took a walk through the economy cabin which was only 50% full and was glad I was in business. What an ugly, underwhelming cabin (business class was also underwhelming). Quite depressing actually.
I’m rather happy to fly economy when it is mostly empty. Makes it much easier and the catering isn’t bad at all.
It might also be worth bearing in mind that TK aren’t really interested in filling the business class cabin on these flights – their pricing is very optimistic indeed and the strategy seems to be selling a small number of very expensive tickets to completely price-insensitive pax while keeping most seats free for the purposes of selling last-minute intercontinental tickets and overselling Y (which then results in op-ups for frequent flyers – I have been upgraded a fair few on the A330 from/to AMS/LHR/MAN).
“Turkish Airlines is just fine in economy class”
Would you say above average when compared to most European airlines flying routes of similar length in Economy?
Absolutely, though I think the lack of in-seat power is a missed opportunity. Just cheapness.
Hey Matt, quick correction. The regional configuration Turkish A333 has 40 business class seats, not 28. The 28 configuration are lie flat and do primarily long haul.