Turkish Airlines.

I have been flying with Turkish Airlines well over 50 times in the past decade. This is my personal opinion on the airline.

Flying Turkish Airlines.

Turkish airlines is an airline that has gone from being a small obscure airline to one of the biggest airlines in recent years. You will often find that they have extremely good prices on many destinations. So they are worth looking into if you travel a lot to exotic destinations. Back in the 1980’s, the airline was a loss making company. But then a visionary guy called Cam Kozlu took over the leadership of the company and Turkish Airlines has not looked back since. Even if Cam Kozlu is not there anymore.

The fleet and onboard service at Turkish Airlines.

Free beer on Turkish Airlines.

Turkish Airlines has a very new fleet. I am quite happy with the onboard service. On international flights there is always free food and free drinks, including alcoholic drinks. The food they serve on their overseas flights is some of the best I have ever had in the air, so on this point they are really good.

The fees for oversized luggage are high on Turkish Airlines.

Flying with a bicycle can be expensive on Turkish Airlines.

I fly quite often with my bicycle as I am a bicycle traveler. Turkish Airlines do unfortunately charge quite high fees for bicycles and other large items. They are a little like North American airlines in this matter. The charge on Turkish Airlines for excess luggage depends on how far you fly with them. So you need to check with them in advance how much extra you have to pay, if you fly with large items like me.

Changing planes in Istanbul.

Istanbul is fantastic.

If you are not flying to Turkey with THY, then you will most likely be changing planes in Istanbul. And this is pretty good. They usually have plenty of staff at the gates, helping to direct people towards their connecting flight. In this regard they have really good service. Should I say something negative, then it would be that the airport can be quite cramped if you have a few hours to wait. And the beer is too expensive in the bars in the transit area. If I have a quick transfer then I am really happy to fly with THY. But if I have several hours to wait between flights, then they can be a little annoying to fly, because of the airport facilities at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul. If you can get a connection at Sabiha Gokcen Airport, then this airport is more pleasant to transfer in.

P:S. Since I first published this article, a new airport has been built in Istanbul. So things have changed a little, regarding changing planes. I will update that as soon as I am back in Istanbul.

Stay for a day or more if you can in Istanbul.

The blue mosque by night.

One really great thing when flying THY, is that you can often take a stopover in Istanbul. This is one of the most amazing cities on the planet if you ask me. I have been there well over 20 times and keep going back to this pretty and vibrant city, where old meets new and Europe meets the Middle East.

Young turks chilling out in an Istanbul park.

My final verdict on Turkish Airlines.

All in all, this is a very nice airline that is well above average. They are quite efficient and have good service onboard and their prices are mostly very very competitive. Should I say something negative, then the airline has gone a bit more in a conservative direction recently. Possibly because Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been influencing the airline and hired people, only because of their affiliation to his political party. But if I have to put Turkish Airlines on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is the lowest and 10 is the highest, then I would give them a 7. Turkish is not as good as Emirates and Singapore Airlines, but they are a lot better than big european airlines like Lufthansa and Iberia for instance.

Old man in Istanbul.

Turkish girls dressed up for the cherry festival.