Turkish Airlines Business Class, Istanbul-Cairo

Turkish Airlines business class breakfast, Istanbul to Cairo

After having my Cairo-Honolulu reservations ticketed, I immediately booked my positioning flights and ended up booking with Turkish Airlines with a stop-over in Istanbul, where I also got to celebrate my 44th birthday. I had planned to visit the Pyramids of Giza so booked a flight from Istanbul that would give me a full day in Cairo. The trip from Cairo to Honolulu and back was a long trip but definitely one of the best I've had since I was able to see the pyramids and visit Hawaii as well 😍


Cairo to Honolulu Run with the Pyramids of Giza and Pearl Harbor Tour

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Flight: TK690
Departure time in Istanbul (IST): 6:35 Terminal 5
Arrival time in Cairo (CAI): 7:50 Terminal 3
Aircraft: Airbus A321
Seat: 2B
Duration: 2h 15m
Date of flight: April 2, 2018
*This is a revenue ticket (upgraded to business class) Business Class flight #153

Video Review from my YouTube Channel 📺

Boarding, Gate 709

I left the Turkish Airlines business class lounge pretty early and was at the departure gate around 5:40am. Boarding started at 6:05am and upon scanning my boarding pass, I was told by the agent that my new seat number is 2B. Yes, another op-upgrade 😍 The plane was in a remote stand and it was also raining so it was not the best time to board without using a jet bridge. Still, we managed to board smoothly.

Cabin

Seats 2A and 2B

Turkish Airlines' business class cabin is configured in a 2-2 from rows 1-5, with a total of 20 seats, all of which were taken.

Seat, 2B

My seat 2B is an aisle seat. Already waiting at my seat is a pillow.

Seat pocket

Skylife magazine, safety instruction card, etc.

Moments after settling in (around 6:40am), we were offered some predeparture drinks and I chose a glass of water, which was served with a packaged hazelnut. About 4 minutes later, boarding was completed. A couple of minutes later, the captain came on the PA (speaking really fast) to welcome us onboard and give us some flight information including our flight time of 1 hour and 46 minutes.

Around 6:57am, the inflight safety videos was played from the drop-down screens and 3 minutes later, we started our push back.

As usual, the flight attendants also distributed the Philips headphones.

From the movie selection, I watched COCO which I thought was a nice movie.

Arrival forms and menu card were also distributed moments later.

Around 7:15am, the captain was back on the PA to inform us that due to heavy ground traffic, we would have a delay of 20-25 minutes for our flight to Cairo, and that we were number 11 in queue. Twenty minutes later, we had a smooth take off.

As soon as the seatbelt sign was turned off, the crew started with the meal service, beginning with the offering of hot towels.

Dining

Regional cheeses, marinated olives, sundried tomato and yogurt

For my drinks, I chose a glass of apple juice. I had a light breakfast in the lounge so I was not really that hungry and decided to skip the main course which was as usual, a choice between Scrambled Eggs and Turkish Style Cheese Pastry or Traditional Black Sea Region Omelette.

Lavatory

There is only one lavatory located in front of the cabin, on the left side. The lavatory had the usual Molton Brown liquid soap and hand lotion.

Landing at Cairo International Airport

We landed at Cairo International Airport at 8:15am although it took some time before we reached the gate.

Turkish Airlines A321 after landing in Cairo Airport

CONCLUSION

Another great flight in business class, especially as I was just upgraded from economy due to the flight being full. I really commend Turkish Airlines for taking care of their elites as upgrades like this is very much appreciated. I thought the crew were friendly and the food was very good, as usual. The delay was not a problem for me since I did not have a connecting flight and I had plenty of time to reach JW Marriott Hotel by 10am for my private tour of the Pyramids of Giza. Overall, a very nice flight 👍