Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class, Istanbul-Stockholm

Turkish Airlines A330 business class, Istanbul to Stockholm

Flight: TK1793
Departure time in Istanbul (IST): 7:30
Arrival time in Stockholm (ARN): 9:55
Aircraft: Airbus A330 (TC-JNL) Trabzon
Seat: 3A
Duration: 3h 25m
Date of flight: May 29, 2019
*This is a revenue ticket (used Elite Plus upgrade voucher) Business Class flight #193


Video from my YouTube Channel 📺

Transiting in Istanbul Airport

This is my third time in the new Istanbul Airport, the first one being in October 2018 when the airport had just opened and needless to say, this is a HUGE airport. Our flight from Manila parked in the F gates located on one side of the airport and our connecting flight to Stockholm was departing from the B gates located on the other side of the airport. It took us maybe less than 20 minutes to reach the B gates because we ran although I think it would have taken us about 30 minutes in a normal pace.

To get from the F gates (upper right side) to the B gates (upper left side) would take about 30 minutes, with only moving walkways to be used 👎

Istanbul Airport

Istanbul Airport

Aircraft, Airbus A330 (Trabzon)

This picture was taken after we landed in Stockholm Arlanda Airport.

Boarding, Gate B14

We arrived at the departure gate about 7am where the gate agents were waiting for us.

Gates B13-14

Passenger bridge

Business Class Cabin

The business class cabin has a total of 28 seats in a 2-2-2 configuration with 7 seats occupied on this flight.

There was also free wifi access although I did not have time to use it.

Seat, 3A

I assigned myself 3A while Mike had 3B.

My seat 3A is a window.

Personal screen

At 7:10am, the captain came on the PA to welcome us onboard and give us some flight information including our flight time to Stockholm of 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Moments after settling in, one of the flight attendants offered us some welcome drinks.

I had a glass of water while Mike had his usual lemon mint. Packaged hazelnuts were also offered.

Newspapers were also offered followed by the Philips headphones.

From the movie selection, I ended up watching "Under the Silver Lake".

Inflight Safety Video


Boarding was completed at 7:16am and about 4 minutes later, the menu card were distributed.

At 7:24am, the inflight safety video was played on the screen, and 3 minutes later we began our pushback.

At 7:48am, we had a smooth take off.

Dining

Menu card

Breakfast menu

At 7:55am, hot towels were offered and moments later, a tray was served (with Regional cheeses and marinated Turkish Olives among others), together with my apple juice. Bread was also offered afterwards.

Turkish breakfast 😋

For my main course, I had the Scrambled Eggs and Turkish Style cheese Pastry.

To end the breakfast service, the crew came with a trolley offering coffee, tea and Baileys Irish Cream.

Lavatory

Business class lavatory

As usual, there was a Molton Brown hand soap and hand lotion ...

... and a unisex cologne from Atelier Rebul.

Lavatory

Airshow

Airshow enroute to Stockholm

Landing in Stockholm Arlanda Airport

Around 8:55am, the captain was back on the PA to inform us that we would be landing in 35 minutes.

View before landing

We landed in Arlanda Airport at 9:26am (way ahead of schedule) and reached Gate F36 four minutes later.

Unfortunately, our luggage from Manila did not make it, due to a very short connection time in Istanbul although it was delivered the following day.

CONCLUSION

Having flown this route several times in the past, I would say that Turkish Airlines business class is still a very good choice. The seats turn into a fully flat bed (on their A330s) and the breakfast was also very good, although I wish they´d come up with other options. The crew on this flight were fantastic as well. Unfortunately, the transfer experience in Istanbul Airport was not desirable, and the fact that our bags did not make it on our flight was unfortunate. Overall, it was an enjoyable flight and a good use of our Elite Plus upgrade vouchers 😉