Review: Turkish Airlines B777 Business Class, Hong Kong-Istanbul

Turkish Airlines business class appetizer, Hong Kong to Istanbul


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Video from my YouTube Channel 📺

Flight: TK 071
Departure time in Hong Kong (HKG): 23:15
Arrival time in Istanbul (IST): 06:05 (+1)
Aircraft: 77W named Istanbul
Seat: 6A
Duration: 11h 50min
Date of flight: February 5, 2018
*Revenue Ticket, Business Class flight #147

Check-in

We arrived at the airport at 16:30 and headed to one of the check-in kiosks available, as the check-in counters would only open about 3 hours before departure, and we didn't have any luggage to check-in either.

Check-in kiosk, Hong Kong Airport

Lounge, United Club

United Club, Hong Kong Airport T1

Security controls didn't take long and within a few minutes, we were on our way to the United Club. Having gold status with Star Alliance, we could use three lounges here: the United Club, Singapore Airlines' Silver Kris Lounge and Thai Airways Royal Orchid Lounge. For those flying in business class but do not have status with Star Alliance, they can use the Plaza Premium Lounge for which lounge invitation is normally given during check-in.

It had been a long day for us from Manila so I decided to take a shower in one of the lounge's shower suites.

Around 8pm, we decided to visit the Silver Kris Lounge located near Gate 15 on the other side of the concourse, and about 10 minutes before 9pm, we left the lounge for our departure gate.

Boarding, Gate 213

Departure gate

Boarding started at 22:25 starting with those needing assistance and those flying in business class and status passengers.

Aircraft, Boeing 777-300 (Istanbul)

Turkish Airlines Boeing 777-300 named Istanbul

This aircraft was delivered in August 2011 and reconfigured in April 2016.

I was welcomed by one of the flight attendants and directed to my seat. There is a bigger cabin from rows 1-4 behind the cockpit and galley and the smaller cabin from rows 5-7 located behind the second galley. I have flown this exact route exactly a year ago so I knew more or less what to expect.

Cabin

Smaller business class cabin from rows 5-7, in 2-3-2 configuration.

We were only 8 passengers in the smaller cabin although the bigger cabin was almost full when I checked it.

Business class cabin

As usual, this Boeing 777-300 is wifi equipped although unfortunately, I was not able to connect during my several attempts.

Seat, 6A

Seats 6A and 6B

My seat 6A was a window.

Waiting at my seat was a blanket.

Personal screen

Placed on the ottoman were the slippers.

Turkish Airlines business class slippers

Seat controls

Headphone jack, USB port

IFE controls

Tray table

Inflight magazines, safety instruction card, etc.

Airshow

Airshow enroute to Istanbul

Pre-departure Drinks

Moments after settling in, Borak the flight attendant taking care of our aisle came to introduce himself and offer us some welcome drinks. Mike had his usual lemon mint and I settled for a glass of water.

Menu Card & Wine List

Around 22:55, one of the inflight chefs came to hand us the menu card, wine list and the Turkish Airlines pen.

Headphones

Turkish Airlines Denon headphones and IFE controls

About 5 minutes later, the flight attendants came with a trolley offering headphones, amenity kit and newspapers.

Amenity Kit

The business class amenity kit given this time was from Bentley consisting of a pouch bag, hand cream and lip balm plus the usual eye shade, comb, socks and toothbrush/toothpaste.

Inflight Safety Video

Moments later, the inflight safety video was played.

Borak came to ask if he should wake us up for the breakfast service, and since there was an Asian choice, we said yes 😋😋 Pushback was at 23:15 and five minutes later, the inflight chef taking care of our aisle came to take our appetizer and main course order. At 23:30, we had a smooth take off and moments later, we were airborne. It was also announced on the PA that they have staff who can speak Chinese, although it was not mentioned if it was Mandarin or Cantonese. Had this flight been an Emirates flight, the list of languages the staff could speak would be a lot longer as they have staff from different nationalities 👍

Turn Down Service

As usual, minutes after the seat belt sign was turned off, the flight attendants offered to make the bed.

Turkish Airlines business class blanket

Dining

Business class menu, dinner

The breakfast choices included an Asian meal just like on my last flight with them, although this time, they served it right 😉

Wine list

The champagne on board was Mumm.

To start the meal service, hot towels were offered.

The captain came on the PA by this time to give us some flight information including our flight time of 11 hours and 40 minutes, and the weather in Istanbul which is 8 degrees. Moments later, one of the flight attendants took our drinks order and I chose a glass of apple juice.

Mixed nuts and apple juice

As for my appetizer, I had the Roast Beef with Truffle Sauce which was phenomenal 😋

Mike on the other hand ordered the Smoked Salmon plus the Creamy Cauliflower Soup which were also both very good.

For my main course, both Mike and I had the Asian meal, Beef Ribs with Chu Hou Sauce which was perfect 😋 We normally chooses the seafood meal but it was worth changing this time.

After clearing our tray, the trolley with coffee, tea and desserts came.

I had a cup of green tea and the Mango Panna Cotta to end the meal 😋

To end the meal service, the flight attendants offered bottles of mineral water and a hot towel.

Inflight Entertainment

Turkish Airlines movie selection

I normally watch films while dining and from the film choices, I ended up watching "Blade Runner 2049" starring Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling which was a very nice movie.

Lavatory

There are three lavatories on Turkish Airlines Boeing 777, one on the left side behind the cockpit and two on both sides behind the smaller business class cabin.

Lavatory

Onboard Bar

The onboard bar offered the usual Pringles, Snickers, crackers, etc.

Dining, Breakfast

Around 4:08am (Istanbul time) mood lighting was turned on, and moments later hot towels were offered.

Hot towels

Fresh orange juice and water were also offered.

The breakfast meal was served on a tray, as usual. Bread were also offered by another flight attendant.

After clearing our first course, the flight attendant came to ask if we wanted to have the omelette or the chicken. I had filled out the breakfast card and gave it to them so it only means they are not reading what I had written there 👎

And yes, finally I got the Chicken with Vegetables and Mushrooms 👍 "Finally" because on the same exact flight a year ago, I ordered this meal but was served the other choice.

About 40 minutes before landing, the Denon headphones were collected and since I was still watching a movie (The Foreigner), they gave me the old headphones they were offering in the past.

We landed very smoothly at Istanbul Airport around 6:13am, about 8 minutes delayed. Luckily, we did not park in a remote stand which made disembarking a lot easier.

Turkish Airlines Lounge, Istanbul

Turkish Airlines Lounge golf simulator

After a long flight, a good shower was badly needed and fortunately, the wait time was only 45 minutes. There are times that wait times could be more than an hour so we were lucky 😉

CONCLUSION

In the past, I have flown on this aircraft in business class between Istanbul and Guangzhou, Istanbul and Manila and Manila and Istanbul so I knew more or less what to expect.

The cons: I was glad that it was a Boeing 777 which is equipped with wifi but strangely, I was not able to connect during those times I wanted a connection. It was good I had two good movies to watch and a nice bed to sleep at 😉 The fact that the flight attendant asked me for my main course order during breakfast only meant that they are not reading what we are writing on the breakfast card. As for the pros: the food was excellent as with all the DO&CO catering service, the seat turns into a fully flat bed and the staff were generally friendly. Overall, the not so good things on this flight were minor and in the end, it was another enjoyable flight in Turkish Airlines business class 😍