Turkish Airlines TK 597
Thu 14 Feb 2013
Istanbul (IST) - Niamey (NIM) 1745-2255
Duration 6:10
Class: D Business
Boeing 737-900
No welcome words, smile or eye contact from the crew when I entered the plane. They had stuff to do, so could not even bother to check my boarding pass. And no offer to take my jacket either.
There was ample legroom, but the seat would not recline enough. For sleeping, Air France's seat is way better.
A look at the economy class, which was fully loaded.
I had read somewhere that TK offered a kit designed to be used as an iPad case and that they offered slippers and Bvlgari products. In my case I received a plain old-school amenity kit with rather cheap contents.
Here's the menu catered by "Turkish Do & Co". Compare the beverages list with that from my previous Brussels-Istanbul flight and you'll notice certain missing drinks.
The tray with appetizers, cheese, dessert and my selected breads.
A closer look at the "assorted Turkish appetizers"
My main dish: Grilled chicken brochette with marinated red peppers, grilled zucchini and pan-fried potatoes. This was quite good.
Snack service about 2 hours prior to landing: sour cherry cake and cheese sandwich
Turkish Airlines TK 597
Thu 21 Feb 2013
Niamey (NIM) - Istanbul (IST) 2355-0915
Duration 8:20 with 1 stop in Ouagadougou
Class: D Business
Boeing 737-900
Since the lounge in Niamey's airport belongs to Air France, it was closed before the flight. So we all waited together in the dimly-lit terminal with its shabby seats.
Again, no welcome from the crew when I entered the plane. Since the plane still had passengers for Ouagadougou, there was no cleaning before the Istanbul bound passengers boarded, not even a cursory removal of trash. I had to arrange the newspapers and other papers into a pile on the floor (photo below) before I could take my seat.
The crew was totally aloof and the only thing on their mind was to arrive in Ouagadougou to end their shift. There was no welcome drink, not even a glass of water was offered in 2 hours.
A 35 minutes flight later, we landed in Ouagadougou where we spent almost 1h15. When boarding was almost over, the new crew selected a few "friends" from economy to join the business class - one would have hoped that the "best airline in Europe 2012" could let go of such behavior typical of developing country airlines..
After take-off from Ouagadougou the meal service began. It was almost 2 a.m. and a breakfast menu was offered.
The tray with appetizers, which had been on board the plane for 10+ hours by now and the tired stale fruits and cucumbers were proof of that.
Borek with cheese and spinach, sauteed mushrooms - disappointing because it was so soggy.
Final disappointment: after landing in IST, we walked out into the rain to a bus, in which they tried to stuff as many passengers as they could. A van dedicated to business passengers would have been nice.
