It's Istanbul, not Constantinople: A report on TK's New 77W in First Suites SIN-IST

[SQJunkie]

Great TR, SQFG!
Looking forward to the next instalment.
BTW, is that a mother of pearl spoon in the caviar?

[SQ333]

Thanks you SQflyergirl very nice report !

Laurent

[Kiwi]

Thanks for the report SQflyergirl

I was pleasantly surprised with my recent shorthaul TK flights and it looks like their first class is also quite good. It's now on my list to try.

A nice thick TK inflight mag and safety card. Note the inflight mag was about 50% content related to Istanbul

I noticed that too.

I can't help feeling the cabin is a tweaked version of EK A345 first though.

[s7r0ng3r]

Thanks SQFlyerGirl

I've been looking forward to seeing TK's new First Class for a while.

[B727]

I love stars on the ceiling. I have glow in the dark stars in my bedroom, so this was very welcome for me. Helps me sleep

Me too! I always imagine I'm on a magic carpet ride in the Arabian nights, or considering this is THY, should that be Arabesk nights

[KeithMEL]

Very interesting TR - always nice to read about airlines that I seldom hear of. Great effort, SQFG!

[SQflyergirl]

Asian Style...?

It indeed was.... but considering that Istanbul straddles both Europe and Asia - maybe their definition of "Asia" is somewhat different than ours

BTW, is that a mother of pearl spoon in the caviar?

Sure tasted like plastic though

I was pleasantly surprised with my recent shorthaul TK flights and it looks like their first class is also quite good. It's now on my list to try.

Do it soon - rumour mill has it that F was only a temporary foray, and once TK's own 77W's come, it'll be J and Y only.

I can't help feeling the cabin is a tweaked version of EK A345 first though.

It's definitely got a bit less bling than EK's 345 - judging from pictures of that cabin.

[SQflyergirl]

To continue

It's good to get some exercise and check out the rest of the airplane. So took a walk to J to have a look:

Past the bar: It isn't particularly well stocked from what you can see here. So drink selection is not that great, as is the snack selection


The now familiar herringbone layout here




Load was light - I counted only 10 pax in J out of 30 seats



Upright:


Flat out:


Seat control panel:

[SQflyergirl]

Soon enough

It's time to Land - we've made some great speed over the bay of bengal tonight, and the flight time's been all of only 10 hours 37 minutes.

Against a scheduled time of arrival at 6.00am, we're wheels on the ground at 4.59am

Welcome to ataturk!


Definitely not very many movements this time of the day





One last shot for posterity!


and we're let off first - here's aunty P about to get the star treatment. The lady on the right is the concierge


The concierge doesn't quite understand why we don't want to go to the CIP lounge, and why we don't want a limo, and why we'd prefer to pay to go to Istanbul town.

Note to travellers: Yes, you CAN have a limo even if you are in transit (like we were, to PRG)

So we're put on a buggy, and escorted straight past immigration to await the Turkish affiliate of Kyo Travel and tours.

Shameless plug for a really nice guy: If you're ever in IST and need an honest and reasonably priced guide cum driver, look no further than our friend Kemal.


Next up: Thoughts and Ratings on this flight

[Kiwi]

It's definitely got a bit less bling than EK's 345 - judging from pictures of that cabin.

Less bling but some positive differences (where TK looks better) - eg suite closet is inside not outside, ottoman to share dining with.

[kalenska]

As usual - a very entertaining report SQFG. I loved the quip about the "vultures".

Some thoughts:

The spoons jutting out of the caviar - dunno about the rest of you but don't you all think this is a presentation faux pas

Pillows - they're a bit stingy on the pillows no. Doesnt SQ new generation FC give you at least two standard sized ones?

SQFG - what was the load like in Y? I wonder how long will they keep sending a B77W with the loads like that.

[Kiwi]

Against a scheduled time of arrival at 6.00am, we're wheels on the ground at 4.59am

Welcome to ataturk!


Definitely not very many movements this time of the day

My arrival at IST (from BEY, yeah not much sleep possible) was shortly after 5am. Transfers and the departure area was surprisingly busy at that hour.

[KeithMEL]

That JCL cabin, including the colour scheme - looks v similar to NZ's Business Premier cabin! Apart from the lack of brown leather seats. Are they using the VS patent as well?

[N_Architect]

Aunty P models the bed for us

One last shot for posterity!

Well, you all won't mind if I say we have two very nice models indeed here at SQTalk, will you?

Great report so far, SQFG.

[Dent@SUB]

Soup and bread basket

hmmmm..... another airlines that use bread basket . IMO, it's more elegant than distribute the bread from the big basket a la SQ, especially for F.

So we're halfway through the main course when the FA comes up and says: erm ms. SQFG..... sorry it took us so long to prepare, but would you like some caviar?

Quite an occasion this: - no shot of vodka offered, unlike SQ


Nice presentation though

Sevruga Caviar?? Wow! It just one line below the best caviar, the Beluga. Nice!!

Dunno what kind of caviar SQ served for "selected" F pax???

And the presentation of this caviar really beat SQ down, or as I can say, "knock out" SQ...


Very nice TR SQflyergirl, really enjoy it
Thanks for sharing....