Turkish Airlines Economy Class and Business Class B737-800 and A330-200 Lyon-Istanbul-Dubai

BACKGROUND All four sectors on this short trip to France – where Turkish Airlines was the Official Airline Partner of UEFA Euro 2016 – were on different aircraft, showing the breadth of the Star Alliance member’s fleet. This review covers the return flights (the night flight from Dubai was on a B777300ER, and the Istanbul-Lyon leg served by an A321-200) although I’ll include cross references. CHECK-IN Lyon Terminal 1 is small. The convenience of the short walk to check in was offset by a cramped security area and narrow lanes to border control (F section), and the duty free and F&B beyond were sparse. There were some plugs options by the café but I couldn’t see any USB points so take your own power banks. THE FLIGHT On the B737-800, I was booked on 12F, an emergency exit row, and for legroom this row and the one behind look best if you’re flying economy (business class rows 1 to 5). A beef kebab and rice meal was satisfactory although the IFE was non-existent with a few music channels and no personal screen. TRANSFER Both flights through Ataturk Airport were remotely parked, but transferring on to international flights is straight forward. On the way up, we went through an additional security check but this time the bus dropped us straight at our departures area and it was a short walk to the gate (309) – I couldn’t recall an easier transfer. The flip side to the airline’s growth is airport congestion is rising; the A321 was 15th in the queue and took half an hour to take off. THE SEAT I was sat in 2B on the A330, which is attractively staggered in a 2-2-2 configuration (22 seats in business, pictured). The IFE screen and offering on both widebodies are identical and minor differences include an enclosed trunk on the ottoman on the B777 and open storage area on the Airbus. I found the navigational panel on this flight more responsive than the Boeing and marginally more comfortable in full-flat mode.An on-board chef, complete with white hat, provides a sense of fun. THE FLIGHT All four trips were smooth. Shortly after departing Istanbul, we were shown a footballbranded menu card offering a ‘potpourri of meze’ (carrot hummus was excellent); and choice of sautéed fillet of beef, creamy rosemary rigatoni or grilled swordfish brochette with black olive potato mousseline, which I enjoyed; so often fish on planes isn’t filling but this was a hearty portion (accompanied with a white Vina Sol Torres 2015). The homemade apple meringue tart came with the starter and hot rolls came round twice. Live TV is among the highlights on board (eight channels) but I couldn’t access any wifi. ARRIVAL We arrived on time and were soon parked at Concourse D and on board the train to arrivals. Dominic Ellis VERDICT The business class flights were comfortable and most passengers will find the F&B and IFE fine for such relatively short sectors.