Flight Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class (II) Boeing 737-800
Flight#: TK1851
From: Istanbul (IST)
To: Barcelona (BCN)
Flight time: 3h 30min
Aircraft: Airbus Boeing 737-800
This flight report complements a preceding flight review I did a few weeks ago, also of Turkish Airlines’ business class, but on a different type of aircraft, the wide-body A330.
Turkish Airlines deploys a mix of narrow and wide-body aircraft on its Istanbul to Barcelona route, to the first leg of the trip was on an A330 and the return turned out to be on a Boeing 737-800, so I got to try both flavours of its premium passenger experience.
Full disclosure: this trip was courtesy of Turkish Airlines, the opinions are my own.
Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge at Istanbul airport
Any Turkish Airlines flight review outbound from Istanbul must include some reference to an important part of the Turkish Airlines experience: the lounge at Istanbul’s New Airport, a massive, state-of-the art facility whose proportions you can guess from the picture above.
The Turkish Airlines Business Class lounge takes a privileged spot on an upper floor overlooking Istanbul airport’s main hall. As you would expect from the size of Turkish Airlines’ operations, it is a massive lounge, with several differentiated spaces and a varied culinary experience.
The style is modern throughout, with wooden floors and different types of rest options, from sofas and couches to tables for eating and other more traditional styles.
And if Turkish Airlines is recognized for offering one of the best inflight culinary experiences in the world, the lounge doesn’t fall behind…
The hungry passenger will find plenty of options to enjoy its pass through the Turkish Airlines lounge. There is the cold buffet (featured in the picture above), as well as several self-service spots throughout the lounge with an almost endless assortment of snacks and sweets.
But, interestingly, and this sets Turkish Airlines a bit apart from other lounges I have visited recently, there is a sort of food court, where you can get different styles of food from around the world cooked for you on demand.
In addition to these there are also several bars where you can get the drink of your choice served.
Other details from the lounge: the “club-like” area and the baggage storage area (an useful concept, although I found the locks rather difficult to operate!)
Since the 2023 Champions League final was taking place in Istanbul just a few weeks after this visit, there was a specific area of the lounge dedicated to the history of this football competition and exhibiting memorabilia from some of the main teams and players, including Messi. I guess this museum-like exhibition is temporary, but I don’t know how long it will remain in place.
There is also some space for those that wish to have a quiet conversation in a more classical setting, as well as for those that wish to practice their golfing skills while waiting for their next flight.
Cabin and passenger experience
It was hard to leave such a well provisioned lounge, but the Turkish Airlines experience on the narrow-body B737-800 aircraft wouldn’t disappoint (and in some ways I liked it even better than the preceding A330-300 one!)
True, these are not fully reclinable seats, BUT these B737-800 are usually operating short and medium haul flights and these seats are waaaaay better than what most European airlines have in their narrow-body business class.
(Although you could say some on the edge of what we could consider long haul, since Istanbul’s geographical location, with big chunks of three different continents within range of its narrow-body fleet, allows Turkish Airlines to play with the narrow and wide-body aircraft assignments as demand requires)
Although I am not 100% sure of the make, my impression is that these seats looked and felt very similar to those on Icelandair Saga Premium class, which also cover typically flights in the 3 to 6h range.
Each seat is fitted with a personal IFE screen, which in this case unfolds from inside the arm rest, as well as the console to control the IFE system and universal power outlets.
Here you can get a feel of the general atmosphere in the business class and the sort of space we are talking about.
Seat configuration was 2-2 and, while there is no “empty seat” next to you, there is plenty of space and the seats themselves are quite wide, so there is always sensation of space.
As always, Turkish Airlines signature (non-acohol) welcome drink
Inflight Entertainment
We were given a set of noise-cancelling headphones to use with the aircraft’s IFE system.
As commented in the previous flight report, the entertainment selection is pretty broad, maybe even too much for this type of shorter flight, but, no doubt, very convenient for longer flights!
Food and drink
As noted in other passages of my previous flight reviews, food is perhaps the strongest point of the whole Turkish Airlines experience. Not for nothing I had gone to Istanbul to get myself acquainted with the airline’s new menus, which I had the chance to start tasting for real on this flight.
Below is what I would call a very nice and cozy setup.
A tasty three course meal (five course if you count the appetizer and the cheese!) in a nicely laid out tablecloth. Since this was a short flight there was no inflight chef (this is only in flights over 7 hours), but the food was absolutely delicious!
You can get a closer look in the next pictures:
Our Take
Turkish Airlines has an amazing product for a narrow body aircraft such as the Boeing 737-800.
Even it doesn’t have all the features (like fully reclining seats) that you find on longer flights, this cabin is miles ahead of most (if not all) business classes that you find in narrow body aircraft in Europe operating short and medium haul flights.
And the inflight culinary experience, again, shines with its own light.