TRIP REPORT: Turkish Airlines, Belgrade - Istanbul
TRIP REPORT
Flew this week from Belgrade to Istanbul with the Boeing 737-800 operating our flight. I arrived at the airport around two hours before departure and decided to upgrade at the airport. The airline offers the opportunity to upgrade at Belgrade Airport for 79 euros if there are available seats. This can be done at the Turkish Airlines ticketing counter which is located in the corridor linking Terminal 1 and 2. After doing so I checked-in and was given an invitation to the lounge. The airline is now using both the Belgrade Airport Business Club lounge, which has been the case so far, but passengers can now also use Air Serbia’s Premium Lounge, which is, in my opinion, better. So, I decided on the latter. Being around 7.30 In the morning the lounge was deserted as all of Air Serbia’s flights had just left, while it was too early for those flying with Gulf airlines, since both Qatar Airways and Flydubai use the same lounge. There is menu to choose meals from and the lounge agent told me the menus would change from Monday (i.e. tomorrow),
At around 8.10 (around 40 minutes prior to departure), the lounge agent told me the flight was boarding so I went to the gate, which was right across. Just prior to entering the plane, on the jet bridge, there is a sanitary pack with a mask and disinfectant wipe, as well as headphones for economy class passengers. The business class cabin had four rows of 2x2 seats, so there were 16 in total. The cabin was mostly full. There was one seat empty next to me and another in the first row. Across me there was a Russian family and right in front a man heading to Copenhagen (which I overheard at check in as he was in front of me).
A predeparture drink was offered. You can choose from orange juice, mint lemonade, and sour cherry juice. I chose the sour cherry. It was tasty. We were also distributed menus, which are of an informative nature as there is no meal choice, although there’s a beverage list too. We pushed back around ten minutes ahead of schedule and then had a long taxi to the runway. We took off right on time and would arrive in Istanbul 15 minutes ahead of schedule, although we had a very long taxi to a remote stand followed by a very long bus ride to the terminal.
The business class seats are comfortable and remind a lot of Jat Airways’ business class seats on the B737-300s. Each seat has a personal screen, as well as a plug for charging devices and a USB port. There were Philips headphones at each seat.
Immediately upon departure breakfast was served, which was tasty. The trays were also quickly taken away upon the completion of the meal. Crew on Turkish Airlines is either a hit or miss, but on this flight, they were polite and friendly. There were two male crew members working the business class cabin. The remainder of the flight was uneventful. I watched a couple of episodes of the Bing Bang Theory and we started our descent.
Overall, the flight was enjoyable. In my opinion the price is worth it considering you get business class lounge access and also disembark the plane first, which can also come in handy if you a have quick connection in Istanbul. Since we were parked at a remote stand, there is a dedicated bus for business class passengers.
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