Flight Review: Turkish Airlines B787-9 Economy Class
Flight#: TK763
From: Dubai (DXB)
To: Istanbul (IST)
Flight time: 5h
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9
This flight report follows in the footsteps of our previous reviews of Turkish Airlines economy class long-haul experience onboard its Airbus A330-300 and Boeing 777-300ER.
In fact, most of the elements are the same, so I encourage you to check the aforementioned reviews (And the corresponding business class flight reports as well!) to get the whole picture.
In this particular flight review I will focus on those few elements that were a bit different onboard the Turkish Airlines Boeing 787-9 on the flight between Dubai and Istanbul.
The Cabin
The first element that stands out if you are familiar with other (older) types of wide-body aircraft in Turkish Airlines’ fleet is the that the seats appear to be of a more modern design.
They are slimmer and covered in black-drak grey leather, rather than the cloth-like pale blue upholstery of the A330-300 or B777-300ER.
Cabin layout on the Turkish Airlines B787-9 economy class is 3-3-3.
Each seat is fitted with its own seat back screen (same across the whole THY fleet). In the pictures below you can get an idea of the seat pitch and what it looks like from the passenger seat. Note also there’s a literature pocket at the bottom.
This being a Dreamliner, LED lighting and dimmable windows play a big role in setting the cabin atmosphere.
Food and Amenities
Once more, Turkish Airlines did not disappoint on the culinary front!
This vegetable lassagna (with cheese rather than tomato sauce) comes close to my inflight food ideal.
Add also some Turkish salad with salty cheese, cucumber and olives and a light yogurt desert and you have an amazing economy class inflight meal.
Since I have touched the topic of inflight entertainment onboard Turkish Airlines already on other flight reports such as this or this one, I won’t add much.
The movies and content selection is pretty good.
If in previous reviews it was inflight language courses that caught my attention, on this flight it was this “Invest on Board” section on Turkish Airlines IFE platform.
It is a sort of “matchmaking” investment platform that startups can use to pitch prospective investors, VCs and angel investors, that may be flying Turkish Airlines. As a sort of segmented audience it is quite interesting, although I have no idea how effective this is and how much have those startups raised this way!
Also, a quick line to confirm that, as expected, Turkish Airlines B787-9 are also fitted with inflight internet (although not free for economy class passengers) and USB sockets.
Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge in Istanbul
Last, but not least, since this was a connecting flight I also had the chance to visit again the fabulous Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge at Istanbul airport (I had paid for the economy class flights, but got access to the lounge courtesy of Turkish Airlines).
It is simply one of the best lounges out there in terms of what it offers, with several areas, each with its own atmosphere and, again, the food is superb! In fact, it may be dangerous for your waistline to spend too much time at this lounge, since the tempation to keep refilling your plate from the many food stations that are preparing succulent foods nonstop, is just unavoidable!
Here are some pictures:
Our Take
In line with the Turkish Airlines experience of offering pretty good value to economy class passengers on the long-haul. If anything, the B787-9 cabin has a bit of a more modern edge in look and feel than other wide-body aircraft operated by the airline, such as the A330-300 and B777-300ER, which we have reviewed previously here.