Flight report: Turkish Airlines in business class
Flight number: TK 181
Equipment: 787-900
Origin: IST (20:55)
Destination: MEX (04:10) + departure to CUN at 05:30, arriving at 07:50
Flown: September 2019
Cabin occupancy: 50%
I was really excited to fly the Turkish 787 business class for the first time, and that to for their newest destination Mexico. The Flight was quite long, as we first flew to Mexico city from Istanbul with a brief stopover there for disembarkation and embarkation and a quick cleanup – after which we flew further to Cancun. Our flight from Istanbul to Mexico city is the longest flight within the Turkish schedule. I was waiting for this trip for quite some time. I already knew the Turkish business class experience is superb but now I was getting an opportunity to try their 787-900 business class, which is fitted with the latest business class pods in 1-2-1 configuration. I absolutely loved their seat and on board service – fantastic flight and hats off to Turkish Airlines.
Throughout the flight, decent quality wifi was available and that too free. There were 3 separate login options – business class, MS member and economy. I assume that business class passengers and MS elite member somehow get better speed. Although, I am not sure.
We started with bus boarding. I assume as this 787 toggles between domestic and international flights, it is remotely parked. Anyways, Turkish provides a business class boarding bus so no problem there.
Upon boarding I was impressed with the seats and the cabin. As the seats are arranged as 1-2-1, single people can choose to travel on the single seaters (all aligned by the windows), while couples can choose the middle two seats. As you can see the seat affords tremendous privacy, as the 1-2-1 are staggered – where the person seating the single seat wont view the person seating in the double seats in the middle.
The seat was very comfortable and its a suite in itself. Right next to the seat there is a box next to your head with electric outlets, USB charging points and a closet to store your important items. This closet can be closed by a door. For all the even numbered seats this closet is on the aisle side, thus the seat is close to the window, while the odd numbered seats the closet is next to the window while the seat is close to the aisle. My preference would be to choose even numbered seats as it gives you even more privacy as you are seated away from the aisle.
All seats have a nice sized screen, and below the screen you have a foot rest. I thought that the foot rest is on the narrow side. Definitely, enough for 1 person, but I found out that when you are sleeping on a long flight and would like to change directions you really need to fold your legs a bit and then turn. Small annoyance but I do not want to take away positive points for this wonderful seat due to this small drawback.
Next to your head you will find 3 reading lights at different angles, which are quite bright and give enough light to read in different seat angles. Also what I found interesting was the seat belt. It is not the single buckle like regular flights but also includes a shoulder strap.
The food tray is hidden right below the screen. You press once and it pops out – you have an option to use it as a single or double…
On one side of the seat, at your navel level, there is a console for entertainment as well as seat/light control, which is self explanatory and easy to use.
Even the washroom was fresh smelling, I liked the molton brown accessories. The washroom was kept clean throughout the flight.
After take off were were offered noise cancelling headphones and Versace amenity kit. I liked the amenity kit with a nice small cologne when you are on the go.
The wine list was decent and seemed as a standard for TK flights.
Food menu is below – and food is where TK excels. As it was an evening flight, we started immediately with dinner on take off. While breakfast was served right before landing in Mexico city. You could already choose from the breakfast choices before you went to bed.
Meal service was fabulous. We began with warm nuts and drinks, followed by appetizers. All were quite tasty!
The meal service began thereafter. We were served from a large trolley. I took smoked salmon and shrimps. I just loved the wrapped shrimp – really tasty.
I was so full with all the appetizers that I really did not have any place for the lamb chops. I could not finish it at all. What a pity. Thats what happens with Turkish, they feed you so well!
After the meal service the flight attendant came around to make my bed. She put a new bedding and gave me a nice warm blanket. I loved the flat bed, which was comfortable and I slept around 7 hours, enjoying a nice sleep.
Once we were awake, the flight attendant brought along the breakfast items. I chose Turkish mezze platter and omelette. Both were quite tasty but I was still full from the dinner service.
Just so that you know, you can also ask for a barrier between the two double seats. I assume if you are not together you would prefer to have some privacy, and the double seats do not offer much privacy. Thus such partition really comes in handy at this point.
We landed in Mexico city, a bit ahead of schedule. Although, by the time we taxied and came to a parking place it took quite some time. Once we arrived at the parking place, passengers ticketed only to Mexico city were allowed the disembark. People continuing to Cancun had to stay on the plane and were not allowed into the terminal. I would have preferred to walk around and get a feeling of the terminal, however that was not so.
Once the passengers disembarked cleaning crew came and quickly cleaned the plane. It was quite superficial, understandingly though as half of the plane was full with Cancun bound passengers.
After the cleaning, new passengers for Istanbul boarded the plane. Turkish is not allowed to fly passengers between just MEX and CUN. The flight from MEX to CUN is a short flight and was quite un-eventful one. It is an early morning flight and we were served a small pastry along with drinks. However, I did not mind as I was full with all the food I ate on the Mexico city leg a few hours earlier. I loved Mexico from the air as it was extremely green with forest cover. I was getting quite excited with the warm sunlight and clear blue skies waiting for us in Cancun.
In conclusion, it was a fabulous flight. Given that I was so excited to sample the 787 business class with the new seats, I was glad that it all lived up to my expectations.