Review Turkish Airlines, Economy Class from Istanbul to Zurich
Paul‘s Flight Report for
Turkish
Airlines
Member of: Star Alliance
Flight: TK1909
Route: IST-ZRH
Aircraft Type: Airbus 330-200
Flight Time: 2 hrs 25 min
Economy Class
General Impression: 
Before the Flight:
Check-in Process:,
Security:
Lounge: N/A, economy
Information:
Boarding @ Gate:
Staff @ these points:
Boarding in Cabin:
Welcome Drinks: N/A
Punctuality: , 21 min delay
, 21 min delay
During the Flight :
Food presentation:
Food quality:
Drinks:
Service Procedure:
Amenity Kit: N/A
Entertainment System:
Seat Quality:
Legroom:
Lavatories:
Cleanliness:
General Atmosphere:
Announcement Pilots:
Announcement Cabin:
Cabin Crew:
After the Flight :
De-Boarding:
Baggage Delivery: N/A
—-
= bad, a lot of work needs to be
done
= not good, you will be busy
with corrections
= good & normal, nothing
special
= high level, but the icing on
the cake is missing
= topnotch, leave me here!
= Half a Point/sheep
—-
Spoiler Alert: one of the biggest chaos I have seen at a gate in 26 years in the business!
On the Ground:
I checked-in on the app the evening before our flight. With Turkish Airlines you are not allowed to choose your seat at check-in. They assign you a seat and if you want to change you pay
14€ for a regular seat.
As we
were traveling for a 2 days weekend trip we had no bags to be checked and we could skip the check in area at the airport.
We arrived at the airport 3 hours prior departure. The first 15 minutes queue was for the first security getting into the terminal.
Once in the terminal we made our way straight to the emigration. The queue there was moderate and we were at the counter after around 10 minutes.
Right after emigration is the next real security check for getting airside. Also here the queues moved fast and it took around 5 minutes until it was our turn.
Staff was rather grumpy and unfriendly throughout the entire airport.
All in all these queues and checks took around 35-40 minutes of our time.
No Lounge review as Economy Class Ticket.
We arrived at the gate at the indicated boarding time of 15:10 LT. One single agent was present.
Around 5 minutes later, hell brake loose when a second agent arrived and screamed, I really mean screamed "all passengers for Zürich to the gate for passport check!
Walking at the Grand Bazar during the busiest hours is a beautiful Sunday stroll compared to trying to get to the gate.
After around 4-5 minutes and maybe 25 passengers checked, two more agents came and sent everyone back because they start to board.
There were around 200 people piling up, not queening! piling up at the gate in a disastrous mess!
No announcements were done!
The agents yelled and screamed around the gate, yelled at passengers when they showed up and yelled commands in the crowds!
Finally someone got the glory idea to put up some signage for queening.
This! Turkish Airlines, is treating your passengers like animals and not like customers!
In 26 years in the business and even at the most remote airports I have never seen such a tremendous mess at a gate and even at a new airport!
This is less than 1 star level.
At the aircraft door we were greeted by a very friendly and smiling Senior Cabin Attendant and another cabin crew.
Inflight:
We were seated in row 24 in the center seats and unfortunately right next to the lavatories. One of the worst seats you can get on a plane.
You hear everything from inside the toilet, you smell everything from inside the toilet and you see a lot.
The seats are okay in terms of comfort and have a good legroom. There was a pillow and headsets on every seat at boarding.
The Airbus A330-200 has a total of 289 seats. 24 in business class and 265 in Economy class.
Economy is in a 2-4-2 seating configuration.
Each seat is equipped with an inflight entertainment system.
The inflight entertainment is really good and offers a huge variety of blockbusters, films, TV programs as well as music and games.
No USB charger or electricity at the seat and no WiFi available on this aircraft.
Around 40 minutes after departure, the crew started with the inflight service. One trolley started at the front of the cabin, one at the back.
Surprisingly us almost being served last, there was still choice available.
On this 2,5 hours flight, Turkish Airlines offers a hot meal choice (pasta or chicken) and on the tray is also some humus, a desert, butter and some bread.
The presentation and the look were rather lacking this time compared to the last flight. It looked cheap. Never the less, a nice tray for a 2,5 hrs flight and the food was tasty.
The service and crew were good and it is definitely one of the better inflight services in Economy class in Europe and many other places.
The Cabin Crew was welcoming and friendly. They were present in the cabin and they did a good job on this flight.
Announcement from the flight deck were okay and understandable.
The announcements from the cabin crew were good. A little to fast but still understandable.
Landing in Zurich was around 7 minutes prior the scheduled time of arrival at 17:10 LT and we arrived at the gate right on time.
Immigration in Zurich was good, as the automated gates were open.
The queues at the manned counters were very short as well and almost no waiting time.
As we had no bags checked, we can not comment on baggage delivery.
Summary:
All in all a very mixed experience with Turkish Airlines on this flight.
A queue driven home airport in Istanbul.
The most disastrous and disappointing gate experience. TK was treating the customers like animals. Agents yell and scream at you and are super unfriendly
This being the homebase for Turkish Airlines and offering such a ground experience is super disappointing.
The seat itself would be okay. Very old with no USB or electric charger.
Location right next to the lavatory was super unpleasant and I was happy it wasn't a long haul flight.
A great inflight service with a good catering.
Very friendly and welcoming crew.
Based on this experience we can say that we have seen two worlds on this flight.
As soon as we were on board, they were good and at the airport / on the ground a disaster.
I am curious and looking forward to test Turkish Airlines in Business Class end of January when going back to South Africa.
Notes:
- Paul the Sheep does not get any benefits from the Hotels/Airlines etc.
- Paul will always pay for the services in order to be able to rate freely and truly about the experiences.
- If you are interested in more details, please send me a private message and I will be happy to share.