Turkish Delight: TK A359 SIN-MEL in Economy, VA Domestic Biz MEL-PER, Mining Charters

[yflyer]

2 hours prior to landing, a snack was served. There was a choice of vegetarian snack or tandoori chicken sandwich. I picked the tandoori chicken.



Yum...tasty...



45 minutes to go...



I monitored progress on the inflight map...



I watched the landing on the live camera feed...



We landed at the ungodly hour of 3:46am Singapore time, 20 minutes later than scheduled arrival time of 3:20am.

Flight time today was a fairly quick 7 hours. If not for the delayed departure out of MEL we would have arrived ahead of schedule. Not that I had anywhere to go at 3am in the morning...

Once again, this was a very good flight on TK. As this was a red-eye, there wasn't much opportunity to interact with the cabin crew on this flight, but my impression of TK's cabin crew on this flight was similar to that on my SIN-MEL outbound sector: efficient, but nor particularly warm or friendly.

Highlights for me on TK169 MEL-SIN in Economy Class were the delicious catering and the excellent seat and IFE on a very nice Airbus A350-900.

The fact that they were Star Alliance also meant that I was also entitled to the usual Krisflyer Gold / Star Alliance Gold privileges such as lounge access, priority check-in and priority boarding.

On the whole, I was very happy with Turkish Airlines on this trip from Singapore to Melbourne and back, and I would be very happy to fly TK again in future.

In fact, I have a trip booked with TK in May, this time in A359 Business Class, to Italy via Istanbul, with a stopover in Istanbul on the way home. Looking forward to writing that up in a future TR!

Thanks for reading!

[yflyer]

Bottles of water handed out. After so many recent flights on LCC's like Scoot, I no longer take free water for granted.



Dinner was served soon after take-off.

There were two choices of main in Economy Class: grilled chicken breast, or fusili pasta with mushroom sauce.



Wines and beer were offered, but no liquor.



Meal service in the Y cabin began from the rear of the plane.



For my main, I chose the chicken.



This was a sumptuous and satisfying meal...



There was hummus as well as coleslaw. The grilled chicken, in tomato caper sauce, was tender and delicious, and went really well with the saffron pilaf rice.

I paired it all with a white wine served in a paper cup.

After dinner, I drifted off to sleep, and slept pretty well.

[yflyer]

I was amazed that the amenity kits handed out on this flight were completely different from those on my outbound SIN-MEL sector.



While the kits on my outbound were fabric, this one was faux leather. Just how many amenity kit designs did TK have?

[yflyer]

The aircraft operating TK169 that day was Airbus A359 rego TC-LGR. This was a one year old aircraft, a very new plane, with the same cabin config as my SIN-MEL sector.



Row 28 is the emex row, and the Row 29 window seats have no seat in front of them.



As on my outbound, the last few rows of overhead bins were filled with amenity kits and other barang barang, making them unavailable for pax to use.



As on my outbound, my seat was 42D, an aisle seat in the 2nd last row, shown here fully reclined.



As far as Economy Class seating went, this was state of the art, and very comfortable, with good recline.

This was a completely full flight.



I selected the live camera view on the IFE.



Our departure this evening was slightly delayed. We were still at the gate at 11:08pm, although stated departure time was 10:40pm.



Finally, pushback, taxi and take-off towards the south on Runway 16 ...

[yflyer]

Before leaving the lounge to head to the gate, I also checked out the shower rooms, which were spacious and well-equipped. All the shower rooms were available for immediate use.



Overall, I thought this was a very good lounge. The facilities were great, and the fact that it was not crowded in the evening really added to the appeal as well.

[yflyer]

Summer ratatouille with basil...



Spicy Cajun-roasted vegetables...



French beans in garlic butter...



Cheese...



Dessert...

[yflyer]

My first stop after checking in was the Air New Zealand Lounge, which was the designated Star Alliance Gold Lounge for this flight.



I took a peek at the SQ Lounge in MEL as well, but by then it was closed, as the last SQ flight from MEL to SIN was SQ208, and that had departed at 7.25pm.

This was a very large lounge, with modern decor, done mainly in white, grey and black, with pink accents.



The lounge was quite empty at 8.30pm in the evening.



My first stop was the self service bar...



...where I poured myself a glass of Villa Maria Sparkling Cuvee Brut.



Not bad!

The wine and liquor selection was pretty good, with some bottles rarely seen in airport lounges, such as Plantation Dark Rum...



The dinner buffet was impressive as well.

Salads...



Sweet corn soup...



Beef brisket with chimichurri...

[yflyer]

Continuing with the TR...

After arriving back in Melbourne from Perth, I spent one more night in Melbourne, before heading to the airport the next evening to catch my flight TK169 back to Singapore.



TK169 was a 10.40pm departure out of Melbourne. There was only a short queue at the check-in counters when I was there at 8.10pm.

[yflyer]

wow thanks for sharing the details on the outback yflyer. Did they kit you up with hi vis work wear too? haha

Thanks for reading, SQ218! Yes, I had to wear hi vis too, as well as safety shoes. I brought a lightweight hi vis vest from Singapore and just wore it over a Polo-T. Unfortunately the safety shoes were new and not broken in, so I developed blisters after just a day of wearing them in Melbourne, even before arriving at the mine. No fun at all!

I had to wear hi vis and safety shoes for a few days in Melbourne too, as my work there involved being onsite at Melbourne Park before the Australian Open began, while the area was still a construction zone in preparation for the event.

My colleagues told me later that when it came to safety shoes, buy the most expensive ones out there, as there was a lot of difference in comfort. Lesson learnt!

[SQ218]

wow thanks for sharing the details on the outback yflyer. Did they kit you up with hi vis work wear too? haha

[yflyer]

A glass of red wine after take-off...



This was a Petaluma Pinot Noir from Central Otago...



Dinner was served. There were 2 choices for dinner, and this time I got my choice, which was Asian-style noodles with chicken...



This was a very tasty meal!

Later, I asked for a G&T, which really hit the spot.



We landed 7 minutes behind schedule at 11.37pm.

Overall I thought this was a good flight on Virgin Australia. Cabin service was great, and so was the catering. I thought the cabin product was fine for short sectors, but given that this was a 3+ hour flight, it would have been nice to have a lie-flat seat for better rest. Would I want to fly J again on this sector? Not sure, as the lack of a lie-flat J seat made the additional cost of J a little harder to stomach. Still it was nice to have a proper meal, and a larger seat, on this sector.

After that, I spent another day in Melbourne before flying home on Turkish Airlines.

To be continued!

[yflyer]

My flight from Perth to Melbourne was VA692, with scheduled departure at 4:55pm, and arrival into Melbourne at 11:30pm.

The day's flight was operated by VH-VUT, a 15 year old Boeing 737-800.



While this was an old aircraft, the interior had been refitted with the new Virgin Australia 737 business class seat, which looked much better than the older seat on my previous MEL-PER sector.



Just two rows of 2-2 J seats.



While this was not a lie-flat seat, the recline felt better than on my previous sector.



There was a foot/calf rest...



Fold-out tray table...



...which expanded to a fairly large dining/work top...



Pre-departure beverages were served...this was a sparkling wine...



Free wifi for J pax...



I always enjoy peering into the cockpit on the rare occasions the cockpit door is open...



Great views of Perth city out the right hand side windows on take-off...

[yflyer]

The massive Virgin check-in area in PER Terminal 1...



I headed to the same Virgin Australia lounge as my previous VA charter flight...



The daytime crowd in the lounge was more typical of an airport lounge..no hi-vis in sight.



Wine and beer were now available!



There was barista coffee...



A selection of red and white wines, including sparkling wine.



I sampled the Tatachilla Brut NV...



Salads and cold starters...



Potato, leek and bacon soup...



Chicken & egg fried rice...



Thai vegetable green curry and steamed white rice...



I was quite happy with the F&B selection in this lounge. I just had small portions to taste, as I would be eating (again!) on the plane...

[yflyer]

I was just in transit in Perth for several hours. I had a flight on Virgin Australia back to Melbourne the same evening.

I had just enough time to head to the city for lunch at Balthazar, before heading back to the airport.



Really plump oysters to start...



...followed by cured market fish...



...and Wagyu beef tartare with crème fraiche and potato crisps...



I am a fan of beef tartare and would order it almost every time I see it on the menu. This was a tasty version of the dish, perhaps with more potato crisps layered on top that I would have cared for, but with very tasty beef.



After lunch, I caught an Uber ride back to the airport for my flight back to Melbourne.

[yflyer]

I flew back to Perth a day later.



My flight back was another Virgin Australia charter, this time an A320.



The flight landed in the mid morning, disgorged FIFO workers arriving for their shift, then picked up pax who had ended their shift.



This A320 was configured much more tightly than the previous 737. Seat pitch was miniscule!



But we were heading back to civilisation, so I don't think anyone onboard really minded.



Quick taxi onto the single runway...



Amazing views on take-off...



A nice view of the massive mining operation from the air as we climbed out...



Just a snack and a drink on this flight. It was mid morning, after all, and we could eat all we wanted when we landed in Perth.



Nice views of Perth City and the Swan River as we descended...



On the ground in Perth...



It was nice to be back in the city, but what an amazing 2 days in the Pilbara!