Pic: Turkish Airlines logo at new Business Class Cabin on Airbus A330-300 (Nov 2013)
On November 4, 2013 I flew Turkish Airlines Business Class from Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur.  Flight TK60 was originally scheduled on an Airbus A340-300 which had the old business class product.  Fortunately, there was a last-minute equipment change to an Airbus A330-300, which had the new business class.  FYI All Turkish Airlines Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A330-300 aircraft feature the new business class with full-flat bed seats, whereas the A330-200 and A340-300 have the old business class with angled seats.

Pic: Turkish Airlines new Business Class seats 4D & 4E on Airbus A330-300 (Nov 2013)
I had been unable to select my seat at the time of booking, which resulted in most seats already being assigned at online check-in (24 hours before flight).  Seat 4E turned out to be a great choice (A330-300 seat map), as it had the nice Turkish Airlines logo in the background, gave me a good overview of the cabin and, the cherry on the cake, an empty seat 4D while all other seats in the cabin were taken.

Pic: Turkish Airlines new Business Class seats 4J & 4K on Airbus A330-300 (Nov 2013)

Pic: Turkish Airlines new Business Class seats 4J & 4K on Airbus A330-300 (Nov 2013)

Pic: Turkish Airlines new Business Class In-flight entertainment on A330-300 (Nov 2013)
Turkish Airlines is famous for its inflight catering by Turkish DO & CO.  All THY long-haul flights have a DO & CO “Flying Chef” onboard, a crew member solely dedicated to inflight catering in Business Class.  No wonder Turkish Airlines won the Skytrax Award for “Best Business Class Catering” in 2013 and “World’s Best Economy Class On-board Catering” in 2011.  End of October 2013, DO & CO started rolling out a renewed catering plan which will be available on all Turkish Airlines flights by the end of Feb 2014.  I was lucky to be on one of the first flights with the new DO & CO catering.

Pic: Belgian Godiva praline to start the Turkish Airlines DO&CO Business Class dinner
Surprisingly, the meal service started with a Godiva praline, something you would expect at the end of dinner.  Let’s have a look at the extensive business class menu.
(dinner, breakfast, wine list, champagne aperitifs digestifs, beverages)

Pic: Mozzarella and Tomatoes with grilled vegetables and pesto sauce (Nov 2013)

Pic: Traditional Turkish Lentil Soup with Olive Tapenade Bruschetta (Nov 2013)

Pic: “Sis Kebab” Lamb Skewer, Grilled Tomato, Green Pepper, Eggplant Puree, Turkish Rice

Pic: Turkish Airlines Business Class Dinner – DO&CO Dessert cart (Nov 2013)

Pic: Chocolate Mousse, Sour Cherry Stroudel, Vanilla Ice Cream, Marinated Berries
After the delicious “Candlelight Dinner High Above The Clouds”, it was time for a good night of sleep.

Pic: Turkish Airlines new Business Class – Full Flat-Bed seat on Airbus A330-300
The full-flat bed seats on the A330-300 were incredibly comfortable.  I also liked the Turkish Airlines blanket a lot, felt great.  The combination of the ultra comfortable bed and my Bose QuietComfort 15 headphones allowed me to sleep 6 hours without interruption.

Pic: Turkish Airlines new Business Class – Full Flat-Bed seat on Airbus A330-300
After a good night of sleep, it was time for my personalized breakfast.  At dinner time, the DO & CO Flying Chef had taken note of my breakfast preferences and served it exactly as requested in the morning.  Great service!

Pic: Turkish Airlines new Business Class – DO&CO Breakfast service (Nov 2013)
Overall, TK60 was an excellent Turkish Airlines business class flight.  The hard product and catering were outstanding with an attentive crew on board.  I had also a great experience at the Turkish Airlines CIP lounge in Istanbul pre-flight.  Unfortunately, my experience on the inbound flight TK61 from KUL to IST was less pleasant.  Upon boarding, I was welcome with ‘no pictures allowed’ by the purser when pointing my camera to an empty business class cabin.  The tone was set for this 12 hour flight with a number of other issues surfacing later on.  I have filed a complaint at Turkish Airlines customer service about my TK61 experiences and expect their feedback soon.  Hopefully, my troublesome TK61 flight was an exception, with my wonderful TK60 flight being the Turkish Airlines Gold Standard.  Have you flown Turkish Airlines before?  What were your experiences?  Thanks for sharing!