Review: Turkish Airlines Airbus A330 Business Class from Montreal to Istanbul Atatürk (2017)
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Continuation of my trip to Asia with Aeroplan points, today the flight with Turkish Airlines between Montreal and Istanbul.
We had left each other at the gate of the flight to Istanbul. It’s now almost 11pm and I must say that after a busy day I’m getting sleepy.
The boarding is already in progress when we present ourselves at the door, we arrive in this rather old-fashioned cabin, although the aircraft (TC-JOD) is hardly 2 years old. It must be said that the colors and lighting do not help.
I then inspect the kit and slippers offered. I’m not a big consumer of these products but socks and especially the mask are welcome especially when the cabin has no modern lighting.
We leave with a little delay and it is necessary to pass of course to the de-icing station. Always impressive and at this hour there are not many people, so we leave quickly from there to fly to Europe.
While waiting for the meal I look at the headphones provided, they are of much better external quality than the previous ones.
This is the third flight with Turkish Airlines and it is a good company overall. The crew is pleasant but I noticed a small flaw. Maybe I’m unlucky but the services are very slow. It took almost 2 hours for the meal. I didn’t even wait for the end because I was so tired. So of course I could have chosen to sleep right away but then you would have had less pictures 🙂
Here is the menu, I went for the simplest and lightest, having already eaten well at the salon.
You are asked to choose your breakfast dishes.
I did not taste the wines, I stayed on champagne, a very correct Taittinger.
The table is set, I think the arrangement is quite nice.
I didn’t even finish my meal, it was time for me to sleep. Flight attendants pull out a small mattress topper that hooks onto the seat. Not very thick but the blanket and the cushion are comfortable.
I wake up and we are already over Germany.
Small bottles of water are placed during your sleep, a good attention.
Two hours before arrival the breakfast service starts, which is really too early for those who want to sleep as long as possible.
I take a look outside, I find the snow!
The weather was gloomy when we arrived: it was drizzling and the temperature was 6 degrees Celsius.
A disembarkation by bus is never pleasant especially with this weather.
We go to the Turkish Airlines lounge and take a shower. Our flight towards Singapore taking off at 2 am, we want to take advantage of it to go for a walk in town although it is already dark.
We were able to have a shower without waiting. It was very hot in the cabins, I was almost sweating when I got out of there.
So we took the opportunity to go for a walk in the historical center. The trip from the airport takes 45-50 minutes, you have to buy a ticket with cash. There is a transfer between the metro and the tramway.
We return towards the airport and we settle down in the lounge while waiting for our flight towards Singapore which is going to last a little more than 11 am.
Bottom line
Turkish Airlines is a safe bet in business class. The service, although slow, is constant, the quality of the food satisfactory and the comfort is there. Fortunately, I did not have the case but his management of exceptional situations like the snowstorms in Istanbul during the last two winters leaves something to be desired. Due to financial difficulties, the company also had to close roads. However, for Aeroplan members, it is a first choice airline for travel to Asia or even Europe due to the low taxes charged on award tickets.
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