Trip Report: Turkish Airlines - Dublin to Athens via Istanbul (July 2017)

Trip Report: Turkish Airlines - Dublin to Athens via Istanbul

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I was flying from Dublin to Athens and decided to fly with Turkish Airlines for 2 reasons: 1) it was an economical price and 2) I was meeting a friend in Istanbul as we were both flying to Athens together.  I have previously flown with Turkish Airlines and my previous experience was alright; it was not great but it was not bad that I wanted to avoid the airline. 

In trying to book the flight, I previous have had issues with the airline’s website.  While the website does provide good deals and options pre-booking and during booking, it is not good post booking or managing your flight.  For these various reasons, I had purchased my ticket through a travel agency and received the airline reservation code.  Using that code, I had to call the reservation system to request seat assignments, special meal requests, and adding of my frequent flyer number (note: if you book too far in advance, the airplane has not been confirmed for your flight so you may not able to book your seat).  I was able to check-in online and receive my boarding pass, which made the airport experience easier as the airline has a separate ‘online check-in’ line. 

My first flight was from Dublin to Athens.  The scheduled flight time is 4h30min and the flight is   The plane was scheduled to depart at 10:50a and arrive Istanbul at 5:10p.  I arrived at the gate around 9:30a but the gate was empty; the flight arrives from Istanbul at 10:10a and the crew have 40 minutes to deplane, clean, and reload passengers for the return flight.  In my experience, Turkish has not been the most efficient airline so I was not expecting an on-time departure (also, according to the boarding pass we were supposed to board the aircraft at 10:10a).  The crew did a good job of turning the aircraft around, but we did board late.  

The operating aircraft was a Boeing 737 with a 3-3 seat layout in economy, and a 2-2 seat layout in business.  The interior looked updated and the color scheme of Turkish with black and red seats are very nice.  Each seat had a pillow as well as a headphones on the seat, and each seat had a PTV with a USB port and headphone jack.  Beneath the PTV was space which held the safety card, the airline magazine, and the sickness bag.  Below that was the tray table, the remote for the PTV, and then another pocket for your personal belongings.  There were a lot of amenities on the seat, but the location of the tray table and the remote was problematic, especially for a tall person like myself, as your knees keep hitting the tray table.  The position of the tray table also cut into the seat pitch, which was already narrow to start with; there was definitely not a lot of leg room.  The seat comfort was average, it wasn’t bad during the beginning of the flight but towards to the end you did start feeling the somewhat lack of cushion.

Once everyone was on board, the doors closed, the safety video was shown, and we took off for   Turkish is a full-service airline, which means that complimentary luggage is provided as well as complimentary meal and drinks.  The meal service start a bit later than normal, and regular meals as well as special request meals were served at the same time.  Along with meals, complimentary drinks were provided.  Turkish has advertised ‘chef on board’ for the business class and has promoted their airline meals, and while the meal wasn’t great it was definitely better and more substantial than I have had on other airlines.  After the meal service, tea and coffee were served before the meal trays were cleared.  For the remaining flight, passengers were able to pass the time with the PTV which had a decent selection of movies and television shows.  In my previous experience, which was on a long-haul flight, the PTV selection was good for short-haul flights but there was not enough content for the long-haul flights; it was the same experience now.  The selection was good and decent for the short-haul, but was a bit limited for the long-haul flight. 

Istanbul.

We started out decent into Istanbul, and after a long time of roaming around the airport and waiting   Each time I have transferred through Istanbul, it has been very crowded and very long – there are long walks between gates and when transferring from one gate to another.  Additionally you have to go through security even when transferring as well as go through a boarding pass check.  Given the immense crowds, seating space is a commodity especially since the gates are only announced about 1.5 hour prior to the flight; the airport capacity has not kept up with the growth of the airline. 

I made my way to the gate for my next flight, and when I got there I saw a very big plane for a short flight.  My next flight was from Athens to Istanbul and the operating aircraft was a Boeing 777-300ER, which is a very big aircraft for a flight time of 1h30min.  We were scheduled to depart at 7:15p and arrive Athens at 8:45p which meant we were scheduled to board at 6:15p.  Boarding started late and, due to the size of the plane and the number of passengers, boarding took a while so we were delayed in our departure.  The boarding doors finally closed, the safety video was shown, and we departed for Athens.

The plane is laid out in a 3-3-3 seat layout.  I have previously flown this aircraft with Turkish on a long-haul flight and during that time, the seat pitch was very tight given the long flight duration.  Given that, for this flight I requested a bulkhead seat which had lots of legroom.  The seat itself was comfortable, especially because it was a very short flight.  Usually the seats contain a pillow and headphones, but those were not available during this flight (again, I am assuming due to the short flight time).  Each seat did have its own PTV which had a variety of TV shows and movies; however, the selection was limited as there weren’t as many options as my previous flight.  Each seat also contained a seat pocket which contained the airlines magazine, duty free magazine, safety card, and an air sickness bag.  As I was in a bulkhead seat, the PTV did not have USB ports but rather underneath the seat, next to the holder for the PTV screens, there were USB ports and a universal plug. 

Once we passed 10,000ft, the inflight service started.  Turkish is a full-airline which means they  I knew this, but given the short flight distance I did not expect much.  The attendants came around and handed out cheese sandwiches and offered a choice of beverage.  The service was quick and rushed, I think the attendants themselves were overwhelmed in providing the service to the large number of passengers in the short flight time.  Once the service was done, and the trash collected, most passengers watched the inflight entertainment until it was time to land.  We landed in Athens a little after the scheduled arrival time, taxied to the gate, and deplaned.

provide complimentary meals and drinks of each flight.

My return flight was also operated by Turkish and the experience was very similar (including the chaotic transfer in Istanbul).  Overall, the experience with Turkish Airlines was decent; I neither had a positive nor negative experience on Turkish.  They provided a decent onboard product, with nice amenities such as USB ports and PTVS as well as complimentary meals and drinks, but nothing was outstanding.  The seat pitch on the Boeing 737 was a bit tight (even for the 4+hr flight time) and the chaotic transfer in Istanbul (on both the outbound and return) was not enjoyable.  Given all this, would I fly Turkish again?  They usually have good promotions going which makes the costs more affordable, so given that I would fly them again but mostly for short-haul; I think other airlines provide a better and more comprehensive long-haul service.