I’ve long been a huge fan of Turkish Airlines’ incredible business class soft product. Previously their flagship aircraft was the 777, which featured fully flat business class seats in a 2-3-2 configuration.
That’s why I was really excited to try Turkish Airlines’ new 787-9 business class. They didn’t choose an especially common seat for the 787, as they selected a product that’s so far otherwise only found in Singapore Airlines’ 787-10 business class (used primarily for regional flights). These seats will be available on all future Turkish 787 and A350 deliveries, though existing planes aren’t expected to get these seats.
So, just how much better are these seats? First let me share how we booked this trip, and then I’ll get into the flight review.
Redeeming Miles For Turkish Airlines Business Class
We knew we wanted to fly Turkish’s new 787-9, and as of now their only US destinations for the plane are Atlanta and Washington. Atlanta seems to have significantly better award availability, and we managed to find space on our preferred date from Atlanta to Istanbul to Cluj (in Romania, where we were starting our road trip).
So we booked the following in business class for 57,500 Aeroplan miles plus $5.60 per passenger:
10/23 TK32 Atlanta to Istanbul departing 10:35PM arriving 4:40PM (+1 day)
10/24 TK1347 Istanbul to Cluj departing 6:45PM arriving 8:30PM
That’s a pretty fantastic deal. We transferred over those points from Amex Membership Rewards. Aeroplan’s redemption rates for this award were the best value, given the low mileage requirements and lack of carrier imposed surcharges.
Turkish Airlines Business Class 787-9 Review
Turkish Airlines 32
Atlanta (ATL) – Istanbul (IST)
Wednesday, October 23
Depart: 10:35PM
Arrive: 4:40PM (+1 day)
Duration: 11hr5min
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9
Seat: 8A (Business Class)
We boarded through the second set of doors, where we were greeted by the cabin chief and a flight attendant, and pointed left into business class. Turkish Airlines’ new 787-9 business class consists of a total of 30 seats, spread across eight rows.
Turkish Airlines 787 business class cabin
This was my first time flying in this kind of staggered business class seat, and I was impressed by the design. I thought the finishes were beautiful, from the logo on the bulkhead, to the patterns on the seats.
Turkish Airlines business class cabin 787
As is normal in staggered configurations, not all seats are created equal. That’s because the footrest for any given seat is to the side of the seat in front.
In the center section, odd numbered rows have the two seats that are closest to one another, which are often preferred by those traveling with someone. They’re also further from the aisle, so have more privacy from the aisle (though less privacy from your neighbor).
Turkish Airlines business class seats 787
Then even numbered rows have seats that are closer to the aisle. These center seats would generally be my last choice — you don’t have a window seat, and you’re also not close to the person you’re traveling with, if that’s something you value.
Turkish Airlines business class seats 787
Window seats follow a similar pattern. Window seats in odd numbered rows have the seats closer to the aisle and further from the window. Usually it bothers me the extent to which these seats feel “exposed,” though Turkish offers huge privacy shields, so that’s less of an issue than in other staggered configurations.
Turkish Airlines 787 business class seat
Turkish Airlines 787 business class seat
Turkish Airlines 787 business class seat
Window seats in even numbered rows are closest to the windows, so they’re the most private and have the best views, so these seats would be my first choice. These seats do still have privacy shields on the window side, so you only have an obstructed window view in most cases.
Turkish Airlines business class seat 787
Turkish Airlines 787 business class seat
I was seated in seat 8A, the window seat in the last row of the cabin on the left. Seriously, can we just appreciate for a second how beautiful these seats are? I loved the patterns, in particular the quilted felt pattern on the “shell” of the seat.
Turkish Airlines 787 business class seat
To the aisle-side of the seat was a storage compartment, which is where the headphones were located during boarding.
Turkish Airlines business class seat storage
That compartment could fully be closed, and there was also a cute pull-out mirror.
Turkish Airlines business class seat storage
To the right side of the seat at elbow-level were both the entertainment controller and seat controls, both of which were easy to use.
Turkish Airlines business class seat entertainment controller
Then on the left side of the seat was a reading light, as well as several settings to control lighting at the seat.
Turkish Airlines business class seat mirror
The tray table extended out from the front of the seat, and could be folded over in half. While I liked how big and sturdy the tray table was, I found it hard to put the tray table back after use, as it required jerking the table around quite a bit before it would get on the right “track.”
Turkish Airlines business class seat tray table
One of my biggest issues with staggered seats is generally that the footwells are on the small side, so it’s tough to get comfortable. So, how was the footwell in Turkish Airlines’ new business class?
I’ve had tighter footwells, though I also wouldn’t call these spacious. So I’d say they’re more spacious than in a staggered “throne” seat, but less spacious than in Thai A350 business class, for example.
Turkish Airlines business class seat footwell
I did like that underneath the footwell was an open area where you could store shoes or whatever else during the flight. That’s a nice feature, since the seat otherwise lacks substantial storage.
Turkish Airlines business class seat footwell
The seat also had individual air nozzles — yay!
Turkish Airlines business class air nozzle
So, overall how does the seat rank? I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite business class seat, though I do think it’s an above average staggered seat, particularly for the privacy it affords. I’d say it ranks in the top five seat “styles” out there.
Waiting at my seat upon boarding was a pillow and blanket. When it’s time to sleep there’s more bedding, including a more substantial blanket, so this is mainly meant for when you’re relaxing.
Turkish business class pillow & blanket
While not Bang & Olufsen or Bose quality, the headphones at my seat were quite good.
Turkish Airlines business class headphones
Shortly after settling in, the extensive pre-flight service began. First the charming flight attendant taking care of me introduced herself by name and offered me a pre-departure drink, with the choice between fresh orange juice, lemon mint juice, raspberry juice, or water. It’s cute how the stirrers also state what you’re drinking.
Turkish Airlines business class pre-departure drink
A moment later the chef came by my seat to present me with the menu and drink list for the flight. The chef also gave me a pen, asking me to fill out the breakfast card before going to sleep.
Turkish Airlines business class menu & wine list
A few minutes later I was offered a sturdy pair of slippers along with a shoe bag.
Turkish Airlines business class slippers
Then we were offered Versace amenity kits. Turkish has separate male and female kits, as you can see below (stereotypical, much?). 😉
Turkish Airlines business class amenity kit
Turkish Airlines business class amenity kit
At around 10:30PM the main cabin door closed (with a full business class cabin), and at the same time the captain made his welcome aboard announcement, informing us of our flight time of 10hr21min, and our cruising altitude of 37,000 feet.
A few minutes later we began our pushback, at which point the safety video was screened.
We started our taxi and then held position. At 10:50PM the captain announced that we were number six for takeoff, and should be airborne within 10 minutes. Sure enough, at 11PM we took off on runway 9R.
As we climbed out I browsed Turkish’s excellent entertainment selection. They had an impressive variety of movies and TV shows. While I wouldn’t say it’s one of the best systems out there, it is substantial.
Turkish Airlines entertainment system
Turkish Airlines entertainment system
Turkish Airlines entertainment system
I also checked out the map for our flight to Istanbul.
Turkish Airlines entertainment system
Turkish Airlines has Wi-Fi on their 787-9s, so after takeoff I connected to that.
Turkish Airlines free Wi-Fi
Ordinarily Turkish Airlines charges $9.99 for a one hour pass or $14.99 for a 24 hour pass, which is extremely reasonable when you consider there are no data caps. But it gets even better than that. If you’re in business class Wi-Fi is free — you just have to enter your last name and seat number.
Turkish Airlines free Wi-Fi
Free Wi-Fi is such a nice touch. The catch is that on their older planes the Wi-Fi was really slow, while the speeds on the 787-9 were excellent. I’d say it wasn’t quite as fast as Viasat on domestic American flights, but was roughly on par with Gogo 2Ku on international flights, which is very impressive.
The seatbelt sign was turned off about 10 minutes after takeoff, at which point I checked out the lavatories.
Turkish 787-9 business class cabin
While there were two lavatories behind the business class cabin, only one was for business class passengers — the one in the back right was for business class, while the one in the back left was for economy (and the curtains were arranged in such a way that it was obvious). On top of that there was another lavatory in front of the cabin.
The business class lavatory behind the cabin was huge. It even had a bidet, which I haven’t seen on other Turkish planes.
Turkish Airlines 787 lavatory
Turkish Airlines 787 lavatory bidet
As is the norm on Turkish, they had lovely Molton Brown amenities.
Turkish Airlines Molton Brown toiletries
I was also impressed by how clean they kept the lavatories. They constantly refreshed them between uses, and they were spotless even at the end of the flight.
About 15 minutes after takeoff the crew distributed warm towels and bottled water.
Turkish Airlines business class warm towel & bottled water
Turkish Airlines has dine on demand on their long haul redeye flights to Istanbul, so after takeoff the first order of business for the crew was offering to make beds.
This consisted of them offering each passenger a mattress pad and a thicker blanket. Even through I wasn’t ready to sleep I still had them make my bed, since they can always leave it in the upright position.
Turkish Airlines business class bedding
Turkish Airlines is known for their incredible business class meal service, though the service isn’t quite as intricate on some flights to Istanbul. On flights from Istanbul they serve both the appetizers and desserts off trolleys, so you can choose exactly what you want (see this trip report for a sense of what that’s like).
Meanwhile on some flights to Istanbul (especially relatively shorter flights departing late at night) they have dine on demand so that you can eat what you want when you want, and as a result everything comes pre-plated.
Anyway, the dinner menu read as follows:
Then the drink list read as follows:
50 minutes after takeoff the chef brought out tablecloths. Around this time I was asked what I wanted to eat and drink by the flight attendant taking care of me.
Interestingly throughout the service I was addressed as “Mr. Justin” (which is my middle name — I guess my ticket showed my first and middle name smushed together).
Service was a bit on the slow side (probably due to the full cabin — the crew was hustling), and about 70 minutes after takeoff I was served my first glass of champagne. Turkish has Taittinger Brut Reserve in business class, which is quite nice. To go along with this I was offered some canapés as well as some warm mixed nuts.
Turkish Airlines business class dinner — canapés
Turkish Airlines business class dinner — mixed nuts
About 85 minutes after takeoff I was offered the starter. Even though Turkish doesn’t have the fancy trolley service on flights to Istanbul, they still place everything from the main meal directly on your tray (rather than bringing it out on a tray), which is a nice touch. Turkish also has those super cute faux-candles.
For the appetizer I selected the Turkish mezze as well as the pumpkin soup, both of which were excellent. I was also offered bread to go along with the starter.
Turkish Airlines business class dinner — appetizer & nuts
I was served the main course about 90 minutes after takeoff. I had the grilled swordfish with sautéed vegetables, potato mash, and lemon butter. Yum.
Turkish Airlines business class dinner — main course
Lastly for dessert I had the traditional Turkish desserts, along with some chocolate ice cream (which came a bit melted).
Turkish Airlines business class dinner — dessert
Tiffany had the cheese plate for dessert, which I snapped a picture of.
Turkish Airlines business class dinner — cheese plate
Overall I thought the meal was very good. No, it wasn’t quite as extravagant as you’ll get when departing Istanbul, but it’s a really fair tradeoff on an overnight flight, since you do get dine on demand.
The service throughout the meal was excellent. In general I love service on Turkish — I find that it’s friendly, professional, genuine, and consistent, which is a combination I can’t say about many airlines.
Upon the conclusion of the meal I was also presented with a snack menu, which read as follows:
On the 777 Turkish has a small walk-up snack bar, so my guess is that the snack menu is intended to replace that, since the 787 doesn’t have any sort of snack bar.
By the time the meal was done we had just over eight hours remaining to Istanbul, and were over the Atlantic, east of Halifax.
Moving map enroute to Istanbul
Moving map enroute to Istanbul
I decided to recline my seat and try to get some rest. On the plus side, I loved how the seat felt like a cocoon due to the shell. This is a really private seat.
However, it is also a bit on the narrow side. I’m a side sleeper, and I could easily sleep on my left side, with my knees pointed towards the fuselage.
However, it was hard to sleep on my right, since my knees would hit the side of the seat. So I don’t think the seats are too tight, but if you are a side sleeper, then sit in a “far” left window seat if you like to sleep on your left, and sit in a “far” right window seat if you like to sleep on your right.
Turkish Airlines business class bed
I got nearly five hours of mostly solid sleep (the flight was smooth and the cabin was cool, plus I had an air nozzle), and I woke up with just over three hours remaining to Istanbul, as we were over Western France.
Moving map enroute to Istanbul
Moving map enroute to Istanbul
That was perfect, since it was just after 6AM ET, so it would allow me to get a bit of work done before getting to Istanbul. I ordered a cappuccino to drink. Not only are Turkish’s cappuccinos tasty, but I love the mugs they come in.
Turkish Airlines business class cappuccino
About two hours before landing the lights were turned on in the cabin and warm towels were distributed. At this point breakfast was served. They had collected breakfast cards before everyone went to sleep, so they knew what people wanted. That sure makes things easier.
The breakfast menu read as follows:
Breakfast was served on a tray. To start I ordered some plain yogurt and muesli. On top of that, everyone was served fresh fruit and a selection of cheese. To drink I had a cup of coffee and a strawberry and banana smoothie.
Turkish Airlines business class breakfast
About 10 minutes later I was brought my main course, which was a cheese omelet with sautéed mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, and roesti potatoes.
Turkish Airlines business class breakfast
The omelet was better than your typical airline omelet catered out of the US — it was fluffy and not overly cheesy, which I can’t say about a vast majority of airline omelets.
I worked a little longer after breakfast, and then started watching Hotel Transylvania, in preparation for our time in Transylvania. 😉
Hotel Transylvania
At 3:35PM Istanbul time the captain announced that we’d be starting our descent shortly, and would be landing in about 45 minutes. 20 minutes later the crew prepared the cabin for landing.
View approaching Istanbul
We had some beautiful views on our descent.
View approaching Istanbul
We ended up touching down in Istanbul at 4:10PM.
View approaching Istanbul
Istanbul’s new airport is massive, so it took us about 20 minutes to taxi, and then we ended up pulling up to a remote stand.
Taxiing Istanbul Airport
Remote stand Istanbul Airport
It was only at this point in the flight that I realized the Turkish 787-9 has a nose camera.
Turkish 787-9 nose camera
As much as I usually don’t like arriving at a remote stand, I was excited about getting such a cool perspective on this brand new 787-9!
Turkish 787-9
Turkish 787-9
What a beauty, eh?
Turkish has separate buses for business class passengers, which means the buses leave sooner and are also more comfortable, with seating for just about everyone who wants it.
Business class bus Istanbul Airport
Turkish Airlines business class bus
The drive to the terminal took about 15 minutes. We then had just over two hours before our connection to Cluj, Romania.
Turkish Business Class 787 Bottom Line
I’ve long thought that Turkish Airlines has one of the best business class soft products out there, though their hard product wasn’t competitive.
Their new 787-9 is a massive improvement, and all things considered this business class experience ranks in my top three in the world, and maybe even top two.
There’s so much to love about Turkish’s business class product — comfortable seats, individual air nozzles, fast and free Wi-Fi, genuine and professional service, and amazing food. I absolutely love Turkish Airlines.
I will say, however, that I quite like Turkish’s 777s and A330s when flying with someone, because there is something I like about their standard forward facing business class seats, where you don’t have to put your feet in a small footwell, and can sit next to a travel companion comfortably. Cutting edge isn’t always better…
Very well done, Turkish Airlines!
What do you think of Turkish Airlines’ new business class? Would you rather fly this or their A330/777 business class?
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