Hozgeldiniz....Welcome to my trip report. For a long time now I have eagerly been awaiting TK's entry into Star Alliance. As soon as it was possible I cashed in some BMI air miles for a return in J class LHR-IST-LHR. I decided to go from LHR as TK use the A330 with a much upgraded J class. I cashed in 19,000 and paid taxes of EUR127 for the whole trip.



DATE : 05/APR/08
FLIGHT : TK 1980
ROUTE : LHR-IST
A/C : A330-203 Delivered 28/JUL/2006
REG: TC-JNE named ( Kayseri )



I flew on BMI from DUB-LHR. After landing into Terminal 1 I walked over to Terminal 3 and checked in at the Turkish Airlines Business Class desk. The staff were quick and efficient.













I then headed up to the Departures area.



I passed through security in less than 5 minutes which was quite impressive. From landing into Terminal 1 until passing security at Terminal 3 was around 25-30 minutes !! Amazing for LHR.









I decided to split my time between the SK lounge and the SQ lounge as being a Star Gold member I can get into any of them.

































Cant believe anyone would try to wash their feet in a public sink !!!!



Time to go to the SQ lounge ::

































I asked the lady at the desk what gate the A380 was at and she pointed me in the right direction.













I stood there for 10 minutes. It was amazing to finally see it close up. I just kept looking in amazement. It is a wonderful aircraft. Then it was time to go to the boarding gate.















After around 10 minutes it was time to board. The usual fight to get on board with eveyone blocking the gate area. I just sat down and waited until the end. I was surprised they did not do a Business class and Star Gold pre boarding call.





A nice smile from the friendly FA.



We were offered newspapers at the door. I was greeted by two friendly crew and welcomed onboard and directed to my seat.











My first impressions were very nice!!! I was offered a pre take off drink .



Headphones were given out .




































LCY Airport











After take off the crew came around with Menu cards

















A pre dinner drinks service followed and I went for some Champagne. The Hazelnuts were lovely.





Then dinner came around on a trolley





Now comes the small dissapointment !! My seat mate ordered the last Turkish Kebab. I could have cried. It was my favourite choice. The FA appologised so I had to choose between Seabass and Pasta. I hate fish so I chose the Pasta. Not very Turkish !!! I really wanted the traditional meal. Oh well thats life.

This is what I got ::





And what my seat mate got ::



My seat mate was a Turkish lady from Istanbul with basic English although we managed to have a basic conversation. I asked the crew if it was ok to take photos and she said I could take as many as I liked. She also spoke to my seat mate and explained in Turkish that I was doing a trip report. They both smiled.

I have to say the service and the meal itself was very good. Lots of drinks and I then ordered my favorite drink!!! Sour Cherry juice!! I always drink it in Greece since I was a kid. Many things are similar when it comes to food and drink between Greece and Turkey so I felt at home.

After that it was time to explore the IFE.

































Now I never take photos in the bathrooms but I thought this looked cute ::









I asked the crew if I could go to Y class to take some photos and they replied ''of course''.







There were some members of the F1 team heading to IST.

Time to go back and check out the flatbeds:::









Time for some more Cherry Juice ::











Some things from the IFE



Also they showed these adverts ::  not filmed by me )



Very good adverts but this is my favourite ::





The flight was smooth and I actually got a really good 50 minutes sleep in the flatbeds. Hot towels were passed around and soon it was time to land.















































After thanking the crew for a fantastic flight I disembarked. The arrivals area near the Visa desk and passport control was chaotic. Lucky I had the priority card so a guy from TK took my GBP10 and got a visa sticker put into my passport within a few minutes. I then passed through passport control. Im glad I was not in Y class as the que was at least 30 minutes. The F1 team were also given priority cards even though they were in Y class on the flight.



I took a taxi to my hotel which took around 20 minutes. I checked in and later met my friend Mehmet and we went out to dinner.







I have to say I was very impressed with the whole product and service on TK. The crew were great and they made me feel very welcome.

My IST-LHR on the A321 will be on another report. I decided it would be too long to have it in one.

I welcome all your comments as usual and also any questions.

Thanks for reading / Tesekkür ederim

OA260