THY TURKISH AIRLINES review (LONDON HEATHROW to ISTANBUL, BUSINESS CLASS) - AIRBUS A330-2005/7/2011
Turkish Airlines is the award-winning national flag carrier of Turkey. Since being formed on 20th May 1933 with a fleet of 5 aircraft, Turkish Airlines has become a leading global airline company in its 78 years of distinguished service. Turkish Airlines is a proud member of Star Alliance, and operates from its global hub at Istanbul International Airport to 172 cities in 82 countries using 161 state-of-the-art aircraft. Turkish Airlines, which is a fully scheduled airline, carried 29.1 million passengers in 2010. It employs more than 14,000 people worldwide. In 2010, Turkish Airlines celebrated its 75th anniversary with a special ‘75’ logo painted on its aircraft and painted some its A320 aircraft in the old original 1970s airline livery. The initials 'THY' stand for Türk Hava Yollari (meaning Turkish Airlines). The airline’s marketing motto is ‘GLOBALLY YOURS’.
In contrast to other European flag carriers in the 21st century, Turkish Airlines is proud to be the fastest growing airline in Europe and in 2009 was voted the best airline in southern Europe. The London Heathrow (LHR) to Istanbul (IST) route is hugely popular with 31 flights a week between the two cities. Another strong connection between Turkish Airlines and the United Kingdom is that Turkish Airlines is the main sponsor of the Manchester United Football Club. The three and a half year ‘multi-million’ pound deal was signed in 2010. In the United Kingdom, apart from London Heathrow, Turkish Airlines also flies regular scheduled flights to Birmingham, Manchester, and Stansted. In total Turkish Airlines operates 43 flights a week between Istanbul and the United Kingdom. Another strong indicator of this is that because Turkish Airlines is a proud member of Star Alliance, whose members also include Lufthansa, United Airlines, and BMI. So therefore, because of this link with Star Alliance, this flight was in code share with Lufthansa and BMI. Turkish Airlines operate the Istanbul to London Heathrow route using a variety of aircraft types depending on the seat occupancy. These include the Airbus A320, A321, A330-200, A330-300, Boeing 737-800 and even the Boeing 777-300ER variant. On this route, an Airbus A330-200 aircraft was used. Route: LONDON HEATHROW (LHR) to ISTANBUL (IST) Departure date and time of flight: April 2011, 16:30pm local time (London) Flight number: TK1986 (ICAO callsign: “Turkish 1986 heavy”) Flight duration: 3 Hours 35 minutes Class: BUSINESS CLASS Aircraft type: AIRBUS A330-203 (8 aircraft in service) Aircraft registration:TC-JNC (Delivery date: 11th of May 2006) Aircraft’s name: Bursa Frequent flyer programme: miles & smiles Seat configuration for this aircraft: Business class: 22 seats in a 2-2-2 configuration, Economy class: 228 seats in a 2-4-2 configuration Punctuality of the flight: The flight departed on time and landed on time as well. The gate at Heathrow Terminal 3 was 330 as well! In addition, we had one of the airline’s star pilots in the cockpit, Captain Kazan. Normally a Captain has four strips on their epaulettes, but Captain Kazan also had a star as well! Considering it was a busy afternoon at Heathrow, we managed to jump the queue and took-off from runway 09R for a Dover departure. I managed to get a shot of south London as we quickly passed places such as Clapham Junction, Waterloo, and Dulwich. Within around 10 minutes after departure, we were over the Dover marker, the made a slight left turn towards Brussels airspace; and from there onwards, we went into cruise at around 35,000 feet for this medium haul flight. Any baggage issues: No issues regarding the baggage. With Turkish Airlines, passengers travelling on Business Class can carry 2-luggage bags up to 32 KG in total, with two hand bags of 8 KG each. Comments on the check-in staff and any issues: Checking into the flight was not a problem, but getting into Heathrow (as always) can be a hell of a journey no matter what mode of transport you use. The check in staff at Turkish Airlines are very professional, polite and make the check-in process very smooth. For long haul flights, it is highly recommended to get to the airport at least 3 hours before your flight (or even more). Comments regarding the pre-flight service: Passengers in both Business Class were offered welcome drinks consisting of fresh orange juice, fresh apple juice, Turkish mineral water, and champagne. Usually what you find is that most ‘fresh orange juice’ drinks that form part of airline meals are heavily concentrated and taste like water with a splash of orange squash (or something similar), however it must be said that the orange juice on Turkish airlines is authentically fresh orange juice (with the orange bits in as well). Perfect quality and it tastes exceedingly good. Highly recommended that you drink it without the ice, as it tastes even better. Comments regarding the pre-meal service: Passengers in Business Class are offered a selection of drinks including fresh orange juice, fresh apple juice, mineral water and champagne. There were also a selection of international and Turkish wines and beers. White Turkish wine: 2008 Kavaklidere Narince (Anatolia) Red Turkish wine: 2007 Doluca Karma Turkish beer: Efes Pilsen Turkish liqueur: Tekel Ozel Uretim (sour cherry) The drinks are accompanied with a bowl of Turkish hazelnuts. Turkish Airlines offers the hazelnut because it originates from Turkey, and forms part of Turkish cuisine. Comments regarding the first meal: Turkish Airlines has stylish menus, which they hand out to all the passengers in all the cabins prior to the meal service. Turkish Do&Co, the gourmet entertainment company, provides in-flight catering at Turkish Airlines with their colourful and inspiring menus containing equally sensational dishes. All the menus come written in both English and Turkish. A la carte menus are provided in business class. Because this was a short flight, so therefore we were offered only one meal with two tempting options. The starters consisted on a large plate full of a selection of traditional Turkish appetizers including thinly cut slices of aubergine, succulent turkey meat, boiled soya beans, and cherry tomatoes. You could have easily thought that it was the main dish. Another Turkish deli was the marinated green beans bathed with a few drops of soya sauce. For the main course, the choices were as follows (specials from Turkish cuisine as provided by Turkish Do&Co): · Turkish style grilled minced beef with sautéed zucchini, red peppers, and bulgar. · Homemade artichoke ravioli with pan-fried artichokes, cherry tomatoes, and parmesan. The homemade ravioli went well with the assorted pieces of cheese that was provided as well. For dessert, there was the home made profiterole with vanilla cream and chocolate sauce. Nothing else to say for this dish except that it was irresistibly delicious. Passengers were again treated to a selection of freshly brewed coffee, which included Western coffee and Turkish coffee; as well as tea (Turkish and Western tea). Stainless steel cutlery in the Business Class cabin is provided by ‘Isik’, and proudly displays the engraved symbols ‘THY’ followed by the Turkish Airlines logo. All other cutlery in the Business Class cabin is provided in fine bone china, again with the Turkish Airlines logo and black ‘THY’ symbol engraved at the bottom of each piece. Comments regarding the after meal drinks and in-flight snacks: Passengers were treated to a selection of freshly brewed coffee, which included both Western coffee and Turkish coffee. Turkish coffee has a slightly stronger flavour and is normally taken without milk. A lovely cube of Turkish Delight is accompanied with the Turkish coffee. There was also a variety of digestives available including Baileys, Cointreau and Hennessey XO. Throughout the flight, passengers were able to enjoy a variety of snacks including free flowing drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) from the galley. Comments on the in-flight entertainment system: Huge headphones with noise cancellation technology were offered in the Business Class cabin. The 15.6-inch PTV screen, which is in place behind every seat, can be used to watch movies, choose any kinds of music to play, watch how your flight is progressing, catch up on current affairs, or play computer games with. The digital AVOD (Audio Video on Demand) in-cabin entertainment system is in use on this route. Passengers can select their program either from the panel in the arm of the seat or simply by touching the screen. Programs the AVOD system fall into three categories: 'Information', 'Entertainment' and 'Communications'. Altogether, there are over 120 channels and levels of entertainment to absorb during your flight. Then there is always the five-star quality in-flight magazine of Turkish Airlines, SkyLife, to keep you mesmerized with many stories and useful information. Connections enabling passengers to listen to, or watch on their individual screens, content on their personal iPods or USB devices are available on this aircraft (Airbus A330-200). Comments of professionalism of the cabin crew: The hospitality on Turkish Airlines is just top notch. The staff are highly trained and provide a truly five-star service comparable to the likes of a top quality five-star hotel. Even in the most highly pressurised of situations, the cabin crew have a smile on their faces, and this is key difference that makes Turkish Airlines stand out from the rest. A quality that separates a good airline from a very good airline is one where the cabin crew at the very good airline will greet the passenger before the passenger greets the cabin crew. It has to be said that this mark of high quality stands out clear for the staff of Turkish Airlines on this flight. Comments on the interior of the aircraft (including seat comfort) : The Business Class cabin of the Airbus A330-200 on Turkish Airlines has a 2-2-2 seat configuration. Because this was a medium haul flight (less than 5 hours), during the day and within the European region so therefore there was no amenity kit provided. There are 22-Business Class lie-flat beds on the Airbus A330-200 each with 159 degrees recline providing a very spacious legroom. The seat reclines enough for you to have a very comfortable lie down for a long flight. Lovely suede leather and cotton material that is pleasing for the eye. Each seat in Business Class has electronic buttons on the bottom left hand corner that control the seats movements. Each seat in Business Class comes with its own personal night light that is easy to control. The food tray is neatly placed inside the left hand armrest, while the Personal TV (PTV) screen is neatly placed on the back of the seat ahead. There is also AC power and power available for your laptop built in every seat. This is a very convenient feature. Turkish Airlines logo and livery: The airline's striking logo consists of a crane flying inside a white circle symbolizing the common migration of the birds in Turkey. The logo is a crane bird with wings above the body. The simple yet powerful design of the wings also refers to the crescent in the Turkish flag. The "Eurowhite" livery consists of a snow white coloured fuselage with large navy blue ‘TURKISH AIRLINES’ lettering across the starboard and port side in capitals. On some smaller aircraft, such as the Airbus A330 and the Boeing 737-800, the word ‘TURKISH’ is written in capital navy blue letters, while ‘AIRLINES’ is displayed right underneath in light grey colours. The national flag of Turkey is displayed about one foot to the right hand side of the blue lettering. A huge silver coloured tulip is painted on the fuselage, running from the rear of the wing to the tail. The belly of the fuselage is painted in light grey. Every plane is named after a city or town in Turkey, or any of the seas and lakes scattered around the Turkey’s coastal waters. The tailfin of the aircraft is painted in a bright red colour with the company logo wrapped in a white circle. Priestmangoode is the company responsible behind the re-branding of Turkish Airlines as a key part of the airline’s strategy to position itself as a major European carrier. Priestmangoode delivered a complete re-design, starting with new interiors across the entire Turkish fleet. Overall rating 1-10 (worst-best): 10 China Southern Airlines review (Guangzhou to Sanya airport)- BUSINESS CLASS, BOEING 757-2005/5/2011
Route: Guangzhou Baiyun airport (CAN) to Sanya Phoenix airport (SYX)
Departure date and time of flight: March 2011 Flight Number: CZ6748 Flight duration: 1 hour and 5 minutes Class: Business Class Aircraft type: Boeing 757-200 Punctuality of the flight: The flight departed on time and landed on time. Any baggage issues: No issues- the bags arrived on time and in one piece. Comments on the check-in staff and any issues: No check in issues. Comments regarding the pre-meal service: None Comments regarding the first meal: For such a short flight there was not much on offer. Just a bottle of water (The brand was Ice Dew by the Coca Cola company) along with two warm cakes (one contained a pork filling while the other contained a raspberry filling). Both of the buns were delicious and you could not ask for anything else for such a short flight. Comments regarding the drinks service: None Comments regarding the in-flight snacks (if any):None Comments regarding the second meal (if any):None Comments on the in-flight system (if any): None Comments of professionalism of the cabin crew: The cabin crew were polite. Just a normal flight, without any incidents. Improvements that could be made: This plane was an old Boeing 757-200, and China Southern seriously needs to look at phasing these aircraft out of service. The interior needs to be re-furnished and cleaned. But it’s OK because China Southern only uses the Boeing 757-200 on short haul flights these days. It is a very reliable aircraft. Comments on the interior of the aircraft (including seat comfort): The 757-200 plane has a seat configuration of 3-3 in Economy Class and a 2-2 in Business Class. Overall rating 1-10 (worst-best): 8 Route: Sanya Phoenix airport to Guangzhou Baiyun airport
Departure date and time of flight: 23:35pm, March 2011 Flight Number: HU7021 Flight duration: 1 hour and 5 minutes Class: FIRST CLASS Aircraft type: Boeing 737-800NG Punctuality of the flight: The flight departed on time and landed on time. Any baggage issues: No issues- the bags arrived on time and in one piece. Comments on the check-in staff and any issues: Phoenix airport is a small airport that caters mostly for domestic flights within China. Despite around five flights scheduled to depart in the late evening there were, however, only two check-in staff members. I was lucky to be travelling First Class as I was allowed to jump the queue to check my baggage. However, if I was travelling Economy Class, then it may have been another story. The First Class lounge at Phoenix airport: The Phoenix First Class lounge seemed to be a bit empty when it came to providing decent food and drinks. The fridge was effectively clean dry, there were no alcoholic drinks, and it was not quiet either. Instead, there was a loud TV-set playing state-owned news. I must say that the electronic massage chairs laid out on the main concourse for non-First Class passengers seemed more comfortable than any of the seats in the First Class lounge! Even though you would have to pay for those but it would be well worth every single Yuan spent! Comments regarding the pre-meal service: Just non-alcoholic drinks, tea, or coffee. The tea and coffee were served on bone china cutlery. Comments regarding the first meal: Just a packet of seaweed coated peanuts and another packet of roasted green peas. Both delicious. For a short flight such as this there was not much you could ask for. Comments regarding the drinks service: A second round of drinks were offered after the meal. No alcohol, but plenty of milk, coffee, and tea. Comments regarding the in-flight snacks (if any): None Comments regarding the second meal (if any): None Comments on the in-flight system (if any): None Comments of professionalism of the cabin crew: The cabin crew were OK and polite. Just a normal flight, without any incidents. Blankets and slippers were offered to those travelling in first class. The crew were really nice. Even the captain came out of the cockpit prior to departure to say hello to the first class passengers. Comments on the interior of the aircraft (including seat comfort): The Boeing 737-800 on Hainan Airlines has a 2-2 configuration with 12 seats in First Class, and a 3-3 configuration with 150 seats in Economy Class. The First Class seat has a 76-inch recline so effectively can be very comfortable for short-haul, medium-haul, or long-haul flights. Overall rating 1-10 (worst-best): 9 Route: Shenzhen Baoan airport to Shanghai Pudong airport
Departure date and time of flight: 09:35am on the 12th April Flight Number: ZH9811 Flight duration: 4 hours and 5 minutes Class: ECONOMY CLASS Aircraft type: Boeing 737-900 Punctuality of the flight: The passengers boarded the flight on time (at around 9:00am), and all seemed to be fine until the actual time of departure came around when instead of taxing to the runway, the plane was still sitting on the tarmac. It was around about 10:00am (approximately 25 minutes after the scheduled time of departure), that the passengers were provided their in-flight meal while the plane was still on the ground. Quite understandably, this seemed to cause a few frustrations among some of the passengers who demanded to know why the plane was delayed and why we were being served our in-flight meal while we were on the ground. The plane eventually took-off at 11.35am (exactly two hours after the scheduled flight time), and we arrived at around 13:25pm. There was no formal explanation given as to why we were delayed. I don’t suspect that the weather was a problem because it was nice, sunny and clear when we landed in Shanghai Pudong airport. With the 2 hour delay, the one and a half hour flight turned into a 4 hour flight. Any baggage issues: No issues- the bags arrived on time and in one piece. Comments on the check-in staff and any issues: Check-in at Shenzhen Airport was easy and very efficient. Comments regarding the pre-meal service: None. Comments regarding the first meal: As mentioned that the passengers were offered their in-flight meal while the plane was still on the ground. I, however, opted to wait and have the in-flight meal while we were in the air. Comments regarding the drinks service: None Comments regarding the in-flight snacks (if any): None Comments regarding the second meal (if any): None Comments on the in-flight system (if any): None Comments of professionalism of the cabin-crew: Most people around the world would probably have never heard of Shenzhen Airlines because its only concentrated in the Chinese domestic market with some international routes being operated in the Asian region (Japan and Korea for example). Like the vast majority of airlines in the Chinese domestic market Shenzhen Airlines is an upcoming airline that is striving to achieve its best when it comes to providing excellent customer service. The airline has made a lot of effort to bring out the best in its crew. However, the most important challenge for an airline like Shenzhen Airlines is to get cabin-crew that can speak good enough English, and cabin crew that are polite and courteous to their passengers; the latter being more important when dealing with difficult situations like a flight delay etc. Unfortunately, it goes without saying that for the vast majority of the flights the cabin-crew has a very limited knowledge of English, and tend to be somewhat arrogant and rude. One of the reasons for this is perhaps that being an air hostess in China is actually seen as a glamorous job. However, some may disagree with this statement altogether. Another issue I have noticed on many flights is that if there is a problem (i.e. such as a delay etc.), the cabin crew tend not to interact much with the passengers. This means that instead of relaxing and calming the situation down by offering drinks or by walking around the cabin and making sure no one has any problems, the cabin-crew tend to just sit, close the curtain to the galley and just indulge in chatting to each other. I am not sure whether this is a way to shy away from the situation and make everything look smooth as if nothing bad has happened. Improvements that could be made: Passengers could be better informed in the event of a delay, and also there was no vegetarian option for the in-flight meal despite me ordering it in advance. But this is a common problem when flying domestically. For some unknown reason the chefs cannot produce a vegetarian option meal (or perhaps they are not told to do so!). Comments on the interior of the aircraft (including seat comfort): Shenzhen Airlines have a 3-3 configuration on their Boeing 737-900 aircraft for Economy Class and a 2-2 configuration for their Business Class cabin. Spring Airlines is China’s first and only privately owned low-cost budget airline that operates from its base at Shanghai Hongqiao airport with a fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft. As of April 2011, the Spring Airlines fleet consists of 22 Airbus A320-200 aircraft with an average age of 4.5 years, each of which provides space for 174 passengers in an all-economy class cabin layout. Spring Airlines calls its economy calls ‘Common Class’. Cheap as chips, this low-fare Shanghai Hongqiao based carrier has come on leaps and bounds. You can customise your seat selection and the good thing is that they fly to most of the major airports that people have heard about. Spring AL and its service would put most European and American carriers (low-cost and flag carriers) to shame.
Route: Shanghai Hongqiao airport to Guangzhou Baiyun airport Departure date and time of flight: 13:10pm on the 17th April Flight Number: 9C8855 Flight duration: 5 hour and 15 minutes (Actual flying time was 1 hour and 50 minutes) Class: COMMON CLASS Aircraft type: Airbus A320 Punctuality of the flight: The flight departed late because of bad weather conditions in the Guangzhou airport area. Therefore instead of being held up in a holding stack, the pilot decided to make a intelligent move and stay on the ground at Hongqiao airport until we had the all clear for a straight approach into Guangzhou Baiyun airport. The cabin crew apologised for the delay before departure and even after we arrived at Guangzhou. When I mean they apologies, they really apologised by standing in the middle of the cabin and bowing their heads towards the passengers. It has to be understood that the delay was not the fault of Spring Airlines, but of the weather (and nothing can be forced upon when nature strikes). The above case was just an exception. However, overall their punctuality rate is far better than most domestic Chinese carriers are. Any baggage issues: No issues- the bags arrived on time and in one piece. Comments on the check-in staff and any issues: Normally for most domestic full-fare paying airlines, passengers can check in 45-minutes before take-off but for those travelling on Spring Airlines irrespective if they are flying within or outside of China, they have to check-in at least 90-minutes before departure. Passengers travelling on Spring Airlines are only allowed to take a maximum of 15 KG (this includes on board luggage and luggage in the hold). Anything over this amount has to be paid for. Though sometimes as an exception (and depending on the mood/personality of the check-in staff) this rule is waived as a goodwill gesture. For this flight, I had 22 KG, and the check-in person still allowed me to take the luggage for free (plus my laptop and camera bags which I took on-board). Although as media for Spring Airlines, this may have been a relaxed rule for me as an exception. After all, they did give me the best seat on the plane too (1A). Comments regarding the pre-meal Service: Passengers have to purchase their food and drinks on Spring Airlines. Overall, it has to be said that the quality of the food and drinks is far better than that provided for free on other airlines within China. Here are some examples of the type of food available:
Approximately an hour and a half into the delay, and as a goodwill gesture, the cabin crew offered complimentary mineral water (by ‘Dew Ice’, a brand of the Coca-Cola company) and a packet containing two orange flavoured muffin cakes. Comments regarding the First meal: None Comments regarding the drinks service: None Comments regarding the in-flight snacks (if any): None Comments regarding the second meal (if any): None Comments on the in-flight system (if any): None Comments of professionalism of the cabin crew: The cabin crew were very professional, kind and courteous. There is some advertising of the in-flight food and duty-free after take-off, but it is only for around 5-10 minutes (nothing as bad as what have written on various airline quality websites). Throughout the process of the plane being delayed, the staff kept very calm and kept reassuring the passengers. The difference between most state owned airlines and privately owned airline companies such as Spring Airlines is that on Spring Airlines, for example, the passengers are kept well informed of any problems and issues. Whereas on most state owned flights there is no information given to the passengers, and everyone is just kept waiting in frustration. Improvements that could be made: None Comments on the interior of the aircraft (including seat comfort): Spring Airlines have a 3-3 configuration on their Airbus A320 aircraft in a one class setting (known as ‘Common Class’ on Spring Airlines). The Spring Airlines brand is becoming well recognized throughout China for its efficiency, comfort, and offering a high quality of customer service. The seats are all very clean and covered in the company’s bright green colour with yellow lettering of ‘Spring Airlines’. The aircraft cabin has a fresh feeling to it with a nice fragrance smell as well. The toilets are also kept well clean. Overall rating 1-10 (worst-best): 9 |
About Airline PRThis is a special section on Airline Branding, and Airline Public Relations written by me on all the flights I have been fortunate enough to have been on. These are not records taken from somewhere else, but are actual flights I have been on. Most of the flight trips are officially sponsored by the airline companies in order to promote their certain routes, and aircraft. Airline promotion and PR related work in the aviation industry is one of my expertise. Watch exclusive videos below taken in the cockpit of a Boeing 777-300ER in-flight over Chinese Airspace.
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