Turkish A359 Business Class to Italy: Rome, Amalfi Coast and a Glimpse of Istanbul

[yflyer]

Overall, I was very impressed by TK's Miles & Smiles lounge at Istanbul Airport. It was a large, comfortable lounge with a superbly conceived catering concept and menu. Like their inflight menus, the lounge catering showcased local Turkish specialities in a way that made dining a pleasurable adventure.

The lounge decor was attractive, and the location of the lounge under the terminal atrium, above the airside shopping, gave the lounge an open and airy feel.

Some minor negatives: the lounge could get quite busy at peak periods, and for some freshly cooked items, they were often snapped up the moment they were served. There was no liquor in the lounge, just wine and beer, which might not be ideal for some folks.

A really great feature was the private suites, which I would definitely use again if they were available. It would be nice if it were possible to book the suites in advance, but it looks to be first come first serve only.

I only learned later that the 2 TK lounges in IST, while similar in layout, where slightly different in entrance criteria, in that the one we visited was the Miles & Smiles Lounge, accessible to J pax as well as elite frequent flyers and those on redemption tix, whereas the other lounge, the Business Lounge, which we visited on the our return leg, was available only to pax travelling in paid First or Business Class.

Compared to SQ's flagship T3 SilverKris Business Lounge, I would say both are very excellent in their own right, however the Turkish catering concept had a coherent theme and many enticing live stations, whereas the SQ lounge catering, while delicious, is a bit of a "rojak" mix of East and West. SQ has the edge when it comes to wine/spirits, but TK's private suites are something SQ only offers in F and not the J side of their lounges.

[yflyer]

It was approaching dusk in Istanbul...



Our next flight, TK1361 from Istanbul to Rome, was schedule to depart at 9:50pm. As mentioned before, IST was a vast airport, with a considerable walk required to get just about anywhere. With that in mind, we left the TK Miles & Smiles lounge at 8.25am, and began our trek to our gate, a distant B9, targeting to get there by 8.50pm.



In the event, walking at a reasonably fast clip, we got to our gate at 8:38pm.



Our flight today would be operated by Airbus A321 registration TC-JSZ, a 9 year old aircraft.

The business class seats on this flight were laid out 2-2, which was ok for a 2.5 hour sector like IST-FCO.



While these seats were nothing like the J seats we had on the previous A359 sector, at least they were not the "fake J" seats that you found on intra-Europe flights on many carriers, which were simply 3-3 Y seats with the middle seats left empty.

My seat was 1F, the first row window seat, with Mrs yflyer next to me in 1D.



On time departure out of IST.



IFE and Airshow map...





Very similar IFE to the previous long haul sector.



A/C power...



Wired headsets...

[yflyer]

Dinner was served on this flight...



The menu...



A nice selection of beverages, including wines and spirits...



What a lovely dinner setting for a 2.5 hour flight.



Starters came first, along with cheese and dessert on the same tray.

I ordered a G&T to go with my meal.

Bread basket...



I ordered the spicy chicken makhani for my main...very satisfying!



Mrs yflyer had the braised lamb shank, which she found very good as well.



Though we had already eaten in the lounge, we had resisted the urge to gorge ourselves there, and had saved a little space for the onboard dinner, so we managed to plough through it.

A very tasty dinner!

[yflyer]

After dinner, I reclined my seat to rest. Not a whole lot of recline, but again, this was just a 2.5 hour sector.



Nice ambience in the J cabin. Strangely, while Y was very full, on this flight there was only one other pax in J.



Cabin service ended with a small snack...



Over the eastern coastline of Italy...



Today's flight path...



Final approach to Rome Fiumicino...



We landed 21 minutes early, at 11.09pm Rome local time.

Impressions of the IST-FCO sector, and the IST transit experience...

Our flight TK1361 from IST to FCO was very good, with a decent short haul cabin product and good cabin crew and and delicious catering.

We had a good transit experience in IST, mainly because we were travelling J and had ample time to connect and enjoy time in the lounge.

The only negative was the amount of walking needed to get around the terminal, whether from the gate to the transfer/security area, or from the lounge to the gate. It was quite a trek getting anywhere at IST (And this is from someone used to going around large airports like SIN, FRA, HKG, LHR, DXB etc!)

Given the huge size of IST, I would be very wary of connections with a short connection time, although TK and IST special processes in place to handle pax with tight connections. If I were to plan future flights, I would go out of my way to ensure a long transit time, both for peace of mind, and also to allow time to enjoy the lounge.

I've often asked the question, is it possible for an airport terminal to be too big? In the case of IST, I certainly felt that the scale of the mammoth terminal was just too vast, and not very user friendly, simply because of the distances involved.

I used to think Changi T3 was big -- I no longer feel that way. In Changi and other airports, you have multiple terminals and people movers such as the Skytrain or its equivalent to bring you around. While Changi is a large airport, you don't really have to walk too much to get around.

At IST, there were buggies speeding around bringing pax everywhere. The passageways even had designated buggy lanes. Even the wheelchairs were zipping around on motorized wheels.

The transit experience was fine for us, but we wore comfortable shoes, and were prepared to walk. I would be a little reluctant to bring elderly family members or young children on a trip involving transit in IST.

Comparing Istanbul to Changi, I would say the transit experience is far more seamless and worry free at Changi (Perhaps with the exception of transits involving T4). If push came to shove, I would not mind doing a tight connection at Changi. At IST, I would pad my connection times very generously.

[yflyer]

The airport was quite quiet when we landed close to midnight. Immigration was quick, and there was just a short wait for luggage. There were no queues for taxis at the arrival area.

Rome Airport makes it very easy for arriving passengers, with a flat EUR 55 taxi fee to take you anywhere in the city.


We were at the taxi stand by 11:55pm and at our hotel in the Monti district of Rome by 12:30am.

Next up, Rome!

To be continued!

[SQ218]

Congrats on the milestone wedding anniversary to both you and Mrs yflyer!

Looking forward to read the rest of the trip. IST looks impressive.

[yflyer]

Congrats on the milestone wedding anniversary to both you and Mrs yflyer!

Looking forward to read the rest of the trip. IST looks impressive.

Thanks very much, SQ218!

Yes, IST was impressive, especially the shopping areas and the TK Lounge. However, I felt the terminal was just too big, with way more walking required to get around than other major airports.

[jammed]

Happy Anniversay yflyer! And looks like you guys did enjoy yourselves tremendously

[yflyer]

Happy Anniversay yflyer! And looks like you guys did enjoy yourselves tremendously

Thank you, jammed! It was an absolutely wonderful trip! More coming up in the rest of the TR!

[StarG]

Congratulations on your milestone anniversary, yflyer & Mrs.!

I am happy to see you enjoyed your trip so far.
IST-FCO Regional seats are not ideal but then for a 2 hour flight I guess it is okay.

Love the style of the brown version of the Lanvin amenity kit.

I think the private suite at the lounge is a very generous and useful feature. Such a treat.
With SQ and CX, there are time limitations for such suites at the lounge (SQ F lounge, SQ TPR, CX F Cabanas).

Thanks again for taking us with you on this TR.

[yflyer]

Congratulations on your milestone anniversary, yflyer & Mrs.

Thank you very much StarG!

I am happy to see you enjoyed your trip so far.
IST-FCO Regional seats are not ideal but then for a 2 hour flight I guess it is okay.

Yes, it was a good start to the trip. The 2 hour A321 sector IST-FCO wasn't too bad. At least it was a proper short haul J seat, and not economy seats like intra-Europe business.

Love the style of the brown version of the Lanvin amenity kit.

TK amazed me with how many different colours and styles of amenity kits they had. Mine and Mrs yflyer's were different colours, and on the return IST-SIN sectors, the amenity kits were a completely different design as well. Ditto their economy class amenity kits, also so many different designs.

think the private suite at the lounge is a very generous and useful feature. Such a treat.
With SQ and CX, there are time limitations for such suites at the lounge (SQ F lounge, SQ TPR, CX F Cabanas).

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that such rooms were available -- I didn't know in advance! Not sure how easy it was to get them though, as it is all first come first served. We could have been quite lucky that day.

Thanks again for taking us with you on this TR.

Thank you for reading!

[RedEyeflight]

Congrats yflyer! Looking forward to the rest of your report. I've been wanting to see more of Italy for a while. Only done the usual circuit of the big cities - Rome, Florence, Milan, etc.

Conversely, just got off TK54 in J on the old 2-3-2 config on their 77W after a week in the Balkans. No TR unfortunately.

[yflyer]

Congrats yflyer! Looking forward to the rest of your report. I've been wanting to see more of Italy for a while. Only done the usual circuit of the big cities - Rome, Florence, Milan, etc.

Thanks very much, RedEyeflight! The first time I headed to Italy years ago, it was also Rome, Florence, Milan and Venice, which were of course all amazing, but on this trip we were quite blown away by all the other places we visited, Sorrento, Capri, the towns on the Amalfi Coast like Positano and Praiano, and the towns on Lake Garda, like Sirmione, Garda and Bardolino. Bologna was incredible as well. We skipped the city of Milan this time round as we were just too short of time, but we spent our last night in transit at the Sheraton Malpensa, at MXP, so I got to visit the Volandia aviation museum next to MXP -- amazing place with many classic aircraft types on display including a Lockheed Starfighter, and a MIG-21. All coming up in the rest of the TR...

Conversely, just got off TK54 in J on the old 2-3-2 config on their 77W after a week in the Balkans. No TR unfortunately.

Wow, I've always wanted to visit the Balkans! As for TK's 77W's, for this trip I deliberately chose the A359 flights, but I was thinking that the window-side 2 seater J seats on the 77W wouldn't be too bad if travelling as a couple. Hope the plane interiors themselves were in good condition!

[RedEyeflight]

Thanks very much, RedEyeflight! The first time I headed to Italy years ago, it was also Rome, Florence, Milan and Venice, which were of course all amazing, but on this trip we were quite blown away by all the other places we visited, Sorrento, Capri, the towns on the Amalfi Coast like Positano and Praiano, and the towns on Lake Garda, like Sirmione, Garda and Bardolino. Bologna was incredible as well. We skipped the city of Milan this time round as we were just too short of time, but we spent our last night in transit at the Sheraton Malpensa, at MXP, so I got to visit the Volandia aviation museum next to MXP -- amazing place with many classic aircraft types on display including a Lockheed Starfighter, and a MIG-21. All coming up in the rest of the TR...



Wow, I've always wanted to visit the Balkans! As for TK's 77W's, for this trip I deliberately chose the A359 flights, but I was thinking that the window-side 2 seater J seats on the 77W wouldn't be too bad if travelling as a couple. Hope the plane interiors themselves were in good condition!

Yes, went to Italy years back as well, twice actually, in the late 2000s and early 2010s. In those years, the crisis was in full swing. Still remember being picked up by someone who was about to get laid off the next day.

TK’s 77Ws were in great condition. To be fair to SQ, they’re probably a lot younger. I didn’t find the 2-3-2 layout that inconvenient. I made sure to get a middle aisle seat. It looked like most J pax were elderly couples. That was who I sat next to. So, the person stuck in the middle disturbed their partner in the other aisle seat.

[yflyer]

TK’s 77Ws were in great condition. To be fair to SQ, they’re probably a lot younger. I didn’t find the 2-3-2 layout that inconvenient. I made sure to get a middle aisle seat. It looked like most J pax were elderly couples. That was who I sat next to. So, the person stuck in the middle disturbed their partner in the other aisle seat.

TK looks to be launching revamped J products, and the new seats look pretty impressive. Looking forward to the next round of 777 cabins on both TK and SQ!