Flight Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class A350-900
Flight: TK62
From: Istanbul (IST)
To: Kuala Lumpur (KUL)
Flight time: 11h
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900
Time to review one of the aircraft I had not yet flown on Turkish Airlines: the state-of-the-art Airbus A350-900.
And while my last time flying between Kuala Lumpur and Istanbul I experience Turkish Airlines economy class on long haul, this time it was time to try out the carrier’s well famed business class.
What’s more, the aircraft operating this particular rotation was not your typical Turkish Airlines A350, but one of a handful of A350s originally intended for Aeroflot which had already been fitted for the Russian carrier.
Turkish Airlines managed to scoop these aircraft for its own fleet in 2022 after the Aeroflot was sanctioned and could not take delivery of the already-fitted A350s. Therefore this aircraft has a cabin that is a bit different from the standard Turkish Airlines one, but still pretty impressive nevertheless, as we shall soon see in this flight review!
The flight was provided courtesy of Turkish Airlines. Opinions are all my own.
The cabin: flying on one of Turkish Airlines most special A350s!
As mentioned in the opening paragraph. This A350 was originally fitted for Aeroflot. So the moment I stepped in the cabin, the layout looked very familiar to me, since I had attended the delivery ceremony of the first Aeroflot A350 just before the pandemic and then the war in Ukraine totally changed things!
In fact, Turkish Airlines has been growing so fast (it is already the airline flying to more international destinations in the world!) that it is getting its hands in as many aircraft as it can and the sudden availability of new A350s was too good a chance to pass. So, some of these aircraft even operated in a mixed livery for some time before they were painted in Turkish Airlines customary red and white livery. The cabin interior, however, was left pretty much as it was.
This is, in any case, a state-of-the-art top-notch product. As you can see, the Turkish Airlines A350 business class cabin is fitted with secluded suites that offer a very high degree of privacy.
Let’s have a look at the many details and features that these suites offer and the different amenities the business class passenger can expect when flying on the Turkish Airlines A350.
The seats are, of course, lie-flat and enveloped by a hard-shell cocoon. As you can see in the images above, they are physically separated from the cabin and each of them has direct aisle access. A sliding door allows the passenger an even greater degree of privacy.
The design is rather elegant, with leather headrests and a small compartment on the left side for the headphones and amenity kit, as well as a small reading light. Each seat is also fitted with small cupboard (below) that allows you to hand your suit
You can also see how the seat electronic controls are on the side (the only small downside of this location is that it is easy to activate them by mistake when moving in the seat).
There is also an additional electronic console for the inflight entertainment system (IFE), although I practically didn’t use it, since it was always more convenient to manage the IFE system directly through the tactile seatback screen.
Note also that there are a couple of small compartments for magazines and lierature and drinks on the side.
More details: there are in-seat power outlets, both USB and universal charger type. And I also find quite interesting this shallow drawer on the left (all additional storage space for small items like phones, documents, etc. is very welcome, my only concern in this regard is that it looks like an easy place in which to forget your stuff!).
Below you can also see the footwell at the front, which becomes part of the “bed” when you activate the lie-flat seat setting. As you can see, you get also a blanket (and a pillow, not in the pic) and a set of slippers to make yourself comfy.
In night flights like this one, a member of the crew will come to make the bed for you (below right) by laying out soft covers over the seat-bed.
And next, let’s see the amenity kit (interestingly it was different on each of the long-haul flights in this itinerary, you will need to check my B777-300ER review to check the other one!). This one consisted in a very elegant, compact amenity bag the contents of which you can see here: eye-mask, ear-plus, dental kit, hand cream and a very comfy pair of socks (I liked the fact that these fitted me well, I have large feet and airplane socks are usually too small for me!).
The slippers were also very nice, solid throughout but very soft (and the story-telling bit is a nice touch! Overall, as we’ll see, Turkish Airlines is doing a great job of using little touchpoints throughout the passenger experience to showcase elements of Turkish culture, food and history and promote travel to the carrier’s home country).
The headphones were also pretty solid and great to explore Turkish Airlines very extensive inflight entertainment offering.
You can see in the picture above how this whole set up looks like from the point of view of the passenger once you are well installed and ready to rest a bit during a night flight.
In this picture I wanted to show also how the sense of privacy afforded by the hard walls around the seat play out when you are actually on your seat.
During the cruise stage of the flight, it is possible to slide the door on the right and you get cut off from the aisle, almost as you were in your own hotel room!
Also, for completness of this flight review, I add also a picture of the business class restroom at the front of the cabin, which has nothing special other than the fact that there are a few more toiletries than in the regular economy class restroom and, of course, fewer people actually using it, so no queues or the like.
So, having seen how the cabin and amenities look like, time to move onto the next section to review the inflight entertainment and connectivity options available onboard this Turkish Airlines A350.
First and foremost there is the seatback screen, which is really large and quite intuitive to use. I think this is not distinctive of the A350, since all Turkish Airlines widebody aircraft are fitted with the same screens and IFE system.
As expected from one of the top global carriers, Turkish Airlines’ IFE offering is broad and extense, both in terms of genres and languages, since after all, it must appeal to the tastes of an extremely diverse clientele.
I think the IFE system options and the related content are the same for business and economy class passengers. Personally, one of the sections I find more interesting when flying Turkish Airlines is the documentaries and also some of the content showcasing different places of historical or natural interest in Turkey. As mentioned earlier, I think Turkish Airlines is doing a great job as “ambassador” of its home country.
But there’s more! Because Turkish Airlines fleet is also fitted with internet connectivity. Now, it is not unlimited. Business Class passengers have 1GB of data to consume during the flight, while those needing more data as well as economy class passengers can purchase several data plans. To be honest, I often try to disconnect a bit when flying, so the 1GB allowance was more than enough for me!
The quality of the connection was good throughout on this flight (at least on those occasions when I used it, I am aware that availability might depend on the regions the aircraft is overflying).
Food and drink
Food, I don’t tire to repeat it again and again, is THE strongest point, in my opinion of the whole Turkish Airlines experience!
If the culinary experience is already pretty good on economy class, you can imagine how is it like on business. What’s more! There are quite a few unique things that Turkish Airlines is doing right on this front! Let’s what these are:
1- Local Ingredients and Flavours
As someone that once started a business that had to do with the commercialization of local food specialities, it is always nice to see that the concept of food origination and traceability is being embraced by major brands.
Turkish Airlines acts, in fact, like a window for some of Turkey’s most iconic foods and it offers quite a lot of information about them on the menus (you can also see what were the mains served on the this particular flight, btw) and also on its inflight digital platform.
2- Ancient Bread
But there is a project that takes this idea of food origins even a bit further and, what’s more, it links it to the incredibly rich historical heritage of Turkey.
In this regard, I really take my hat off to the way Turkish Airlines has gone all in in promoting one aspect of its archaeological heritage that is as fascinating as, I think, is still not fully well known by the mainstream public, that is the very ancient region of Taş Tepeler, in the southeast of the country, where some of the oldest traces of civilization on the world have been found (just check the amazing story of the Göbekli Tepe archaeological site!) and one of the places in which agriculture and proto-urban settlements first started.
And what is the connection to food? You may ask…
Very simple: Turkish Airlines has developed some clever story-telling around the fact that the Taş Tepeler region of Turkey is closely linked to the origins of agriculture, of cereal cultivation and the invention of bread.
Bread is served in a nice cloth bag that explains this story and how the bread has actually been made with ingredients that somehow recall that fundamental moment in the history of humanity. And, by the way, the bread actually tastes great!
3- Inflight Chef
Yes, you read that right! Turkish Airlines has dedicated chefs onboard many of its long-haul flights (actually it is those flights that are longer than a certain number of hours, not sure what the cut-off point is exactly)
Not only that, but the culinary experience onboard this Turkish Airlines A350 involved also a rather interesting food trolley, with the crew actually serving portions buffet-style, at least for some of the courses on the menu.
The Turkish Airlines business class food experience
So, what was the culinary experience like onboard this flight?
First of all, and before take-off, we had a welcome (non-alcoholic) drink, which was either a range of fruit juices or water.
What came next?
Shortly after take-off, we had first a starter, which consisted in a serving of nuts, plus some appetizers you can see below (accompanied by a drink).
One of the things I really liked about the meal onboard this Turkish Airlines flight was the candle-lit effect, which gives it an extra-cozy feel, particularly in the secluded confines of your suite. It really gives it a more premium edge as well. Top marks for this!
And, then, the main, which was a kebab with rice, roasted vegetables and an aubergine paste. My experience so far, btw, is that meat dishes are always great on Turkish Airlines, btw!
The dessert is one of the meal courses that were served not as individual portions, but on-demand from the trolley, so you can basically tell the crew how much you wish of each item and you can also combine them!
Since this was an overnight flight with arrival in Asia early in the morning, we were also served breakfast shortly before arrival. You can see in the menu what the options available were.
And below you can see how it looks like.
The breakfast was very substantious and, actually, each the the courses that were served in the morning would qualify on its very own as a full breakfast!
Last but not least, before landing and, as a final touch, the crew distributed these chocolates, again with a subtle reminder of the cultural traditions that Turkish Airlines’ culinary offering is based on.
Our Take:
Expectations were high and Turkish Airlines delivered on pretty much every aspect, with special mention on the culinary front (Turkish Airlines certainly knows this is one of its strong points and does everything to reinforce its advantage here!)
Btw, watch this space for my review of the return leg, also on Turkish Airlines, but on a Boeing 777-300ER with a different type of cabin!
