Total Score: 12 / 20
Service: 2.5 / 5
Food: 3 / 5
Seat: 3.5 / 5
Amenities and IFE: 3 / 5
Flight Number TK785
Departure from Tel Aviv at 10:10am
Seat 3A
Turkish Airlines operates several flights daily between Tel Aviv and Istanbul which are operated by all kinds of aircraft. For those of us looking to fly in business class, choosing the right flight can be the difference of having a lie flat seat versus an economy seat at the front of the plane which they call “business class.” I highly recommend checking the seatmap before booking to ensure you’re getting a plane with real business class assuming your schedule permits.
Seat and Cabin
The A330 business class seats are in a 2 – 2 – 2 layout in five rows at the front of the cabin for a total of 28 seats. While the seats aren’t anything special, the cabin overall feels elegant with a small bar at the front, nice color scheme, and the Turkish Airlines logo at the back of the cabin.
Business Class “bar”
Just this past week, Turkish began flying with their new 787’s which have an upgraded business class cabin that looks quite nice and I’m excited to try it out as well. The Turkish business class cabin overall felt warm and inviting which helped set a nice mood for the flight.
I found my window seat 3A to be quite comfortable, especially considering this was only a two hour flight. Each pair of seats are nearly identical in design as they all face forward with a small table between the seats and an ottoman in front of the seat that can also be used as storage.
Each seat has a fairly large IFE screen which I found to be good enough, though not as good as on some of the newer business class seats.
The A330 business class seats can turn into a fully flat bed which I found to be reasonably comfortable, though without a great pillow and blanket to go with it, I didn’t manage to get any sleep.
The tray table can be pulled out from the middle console and is a good size for eating or getting some work done, though I would prefer it to be slightly larger.
Overall these seats are great if you are traveling with a companion, though I wouldn’t want to be sitting so close to a stranger in business class (I was lucky to have the seat next to me empty!). There are many other business class seats I prefer to these, but for a short flight I was very happy.
Food
Within minutes of boarding I was offered juice or water from the Turkish crew. I find it nice that they have different drinks on offer than what you normally find on offer by other airlines, though I really prefer a glass of champagne. The juices looked much better than they tasted in my opinion..
Shortly after having my welcome juice, menus were distributed for breakfast. The food and beverage menu read as follows:
It’s been a few years since I’ve flown Turkish Airlines economy class, but I recall the food being of similar quality in economy class to what I was served in business. I chose the “flaky pastry with cheese” and finished off the meal with a Turkish coffee.
I wasn’t so impressed with breakfast overall, but then again I’m rarely impressed by airplane breakfast…oh well. Overall, food was certainly not the highlight of this flight.
Service
Coming into this flight, I had high expectations from Turkish Airlines in terms of food and service. Unfortunately the food didn’t impress me all that much and the service was just okay. The flight began with Turkish Airlines’ signature welcome drinks and a warm towel, though no amenity kits were offered out on this short flight.
Throughout the flight, the cabin crew did a satisfactory job moving service along however they weren’t all that friendly. While I know this is a short flight and not their flagship product, I expected a higher level of service from the Turkish crew.
Bottom Line
While I wasn’t terribly impressed by the onboard service, Turkish Airlines’ A330 business class is a very comfortable way to take the short hop from Tel Aviv to Istanbul. I had room to spread out, plenty of entertainment options and decent enough food and drink to keep me happy the entire flight. Having flown this route multiple times now, I can confirm the lunch and dinner service on Turkish Airlines is significantly better than breakfast, however the service was always just average. Considering most airlines flying between Europe and Tel Aviv operate a business class cabin that is essentially just the first few rows of economy, I would happily fly Turkish Airlines to Europe again.
Istanbul New Airport