Trip Report: Turkish Airlines - Dublin to Athens via Istanbul
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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. 
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.
