Flight review: Turkish Airlines business class Boeing 777-300ER
Flight: TK71
From: Hong Kong (HKG)
To: Istanbul
Flight time: 12h
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Continuing with review series of Turkish Airlines business class product (see the A350 flight review from the Europe to Asia leg of this trip), now is the turn of the B777-300ER (you can also find here the equivalent Economy Class review from an earlier trip).
In this regard, it must be said that while the Turkish Airlines experience is remarkably consistent across the fleet when it comes to the soft, service elements, such as food and inflight entertainment (IFE), the “hard” element, that is the seats and cabin, presents significant differences across aircraft types reflecting as well the evolution of this fast-growing airline’s fleet.
The flight was provided courtesy of Turkish Airlines. Opinions are all my own.
Pre-flight experience
Let’s start with a few words about the pre-flight experience in Hong Kong. In fact there was nothing remarkable with regards the airline touch points, the online check-in process was smooth and done online.
Nevertheless, I wanted to share some snaps from the lounge for completeness of the review. In fact, Turkish Airlines doesn’t have its own lounge at Hong Kong International Airport (HKG), so business class travellers can choose between the Singapore Airlines and Plaza Premium lounges, both located airside. I opted for the former, even if its was a bit further away from the gate.
The lounge is not very large but, it was rather quiet (something to appreciate in times of lounge overcrowdedness!) and had comfy seats. The food selection was somehow limited, but had a few really good things, like the dim sum selection, Haagen-Dasz ice-cream (!) and a well-stocked staffed bar.
The cabin
Now, time to get onboard!
The aircraft was a nearly 15yr-old B777-300ER (TC-JJK) fitted with the earlier iteration of Turkish Airlines cabin. This is a rather spacious lay-out with the seat area neatly divided in two parts: the seat itself and a sort of ottoman (no pun intended!) at the front. These two elements get con-joined when the bed is fully laid out for sleep.
This combination is quite airy and offers plenty of space, but you can also tell that it belongs to an earlier generation (compare for example with the more modern A350 suites) in elements such as the lack of direct aisle access for window and middle seats or privacy dividers. The screen is also some way off the seat, so sometimes you need to lean in to reach out if using the tactile screen.
You can see below the view from the seat. One of the nice features is the space you have to leave your shoes underneath the ottoman piece. You can also see here some of the storage compartments and the huge space in front!
As per the amenities, in addition to a pair of sleepers, blanket and pillow, we go also this amenity kit. Interestingly, the bag was quite different from the one I got on the first leg of the trip, although the contents were identical. While the other one was more “boxy”, this one was rather flat and wider (I am sure there are more precise words to describe this, but I won’t pretend I am an expert in fashion lingo).
In the next picture you can see the overall layout of the cabin, which has a 2-3-2 layout. So, there are middle seats, although the relatively open spaces provided by this seat design mean it is, in possible to get to the aisle without messing too much with your neighbours!
A couple of notes for the electronics department: you also get this very solid pair of headphones and have in-seat power outlets (although tucked onto this sort crevice between the actual seat and its shell, so you really need to look around to find it!). Btw, you have also a handheld console to control the inflight entertainment content in case you find the screen is too far away to bother to use the tactile commands.
An interesting feature of these seats is that they are equipped with a sort of massage system which, together with the seat positions, you can activate with a set of buttons located on the armrest (to the bottom left side of the picture below). I found this quite interesting, although hard to know unless you are familiar with this type of seat (there is no info about it anywhere onboard). I have to thank you the cabin manager, who kindly explained this to me, for this find!
You can also see a couple more elements here: a storage pocket on the side and the reading lamp, also on the side.
Btw, since this flight was departing around mid-night, the crew prepared our beds shortly after take off.
As you can see here in this picture, the soft bed cover has already been laid out ahead of turning the seat into a comfy lie-flat bed.
Since this was a night flight and I slept through most of it (which says a lot about the quality of the lie-flat seats!), I didn’t get to use much of the inflight entertainment system.
If you have read some of my previous Turkish Airlines flight reviews, such as the recent A350, you are possibly familiar already with the airline’s very complete IFE platform (in addition to hundreds of movies and other digital content, it even has a section where startups can pitch to investors!), but, nevertheless I think it must be mentioned, since it is likely one of the most comprehensive in the industry.
There is also internet access (up to 1GB of data included for business class passengers), although in this particular flight it appears not to have worked properly during the first hours of the journey. Maybe it had to do with the fact that we were overflying Chinese airspace and specific regulations maybe applied, on other similar flights I had been able to use it without any problem.
I have posted a couple of snaps from an earlier flight, but the interfaces are all the same.
Food and Drink
It didn’t take long after takeoff to be able to enjoy Turkish Airlines inflight menu.
This is a point I always make, because it is still, as far as I know, perfectly valid: Turkish Airlines provides one of the best inflight food experiences out there, and this flight was no exception.
First of all, we got, of course, the costumary welcome drinks accompanied of hot, cleaning hand towels.
But meal time would come shortly after take off before the cabin lights were dimmed and most fellow passengers set themselves up for a night of sleep.
Have a look at the menu below to see what was on offer (not the focus on Turkish ingredients and where each of them comes from, you can even learn more about them by scanning the QR code).
A bit further down this post I show some pictures of how some of these dishes looked like when they were served.
Special mention to the “ancient” bread which Turkish Airlines has started serving onboard its flights. This is a niece piece of story-telling, as the Turkish flag carrier has embraced the promotion of some of the world’s most impressive archaeological sites, located in the Taş Tepeler region of southeastern Turkey. This is the part of the world where agriculture started and the first bread was baked, as early as some 12,000 years ago.
Chef onboard!
One of the differential elements of the Turkish Airlines business class inflight catering experience is the onboard chef on long flights.
This was also the case on this flight, with the chef passing through the business cabin to take the orders.
And what did she prepare? Let’s have a look below:
Assortment of Turkish mezze
Prawns with rice and aspargus
Assortment of Turkish desserts (baklava)
No need to say that all dishes tasted as great as they looked!
This was also accompanied by a selection of Turkish and international wines (Turkish Airlines has even port wine in its selection!), as well as other drinks.
And, by the way, note also the detail of the candle!
Well, it is not a real candle, of course, safety first, but it does really manage to create the atmosphere of a candle-lit dinner, which is really nice.
Breakfast time
Shortly before landing in Istanbul we were served breakfast, which was also pretty substantial and also very tasty overall: nice balance of pastries, fruit, dairy, protein and some honey from Turkey’s Black Sea region!
And also, not unexpected considering this is Turkish Airlines but still a big plus (in my opinion): you can order real Turkish coffee!
Tukish Airlines Business Class lounge in Istanbul
Landing in Istanbul is not the end of the Turkish Airlines experience for a significant percentage of business class passengers connecting onto other flights across the airline’s very extensive network (Turkish Airlines is a true global connector, flying to more international destinations than any other airline in the world!).
If this is your case (as it was mine on this trip), you can hit the Turkish Airlines business class lounge. There’s enough in that lounge, with its multiple food stations with cooks preparing meals around the clock and several differentiated areas for relax and entertainment, that it deserved a proper review on its own. Unfortunately my connection was too short (and perhaps too early in the morning) to enjoy if fully, but I thought it was worth sharing some pics, nevertheless!
Our Take:
The Turkish Airlines business class is a superb business class product, even if relatively older aircraft, like this B777-300ER have cabins that are clearly of an older generation, many of the core elements of the experience, like the food onboard, are definitely top-class.
