Review: Turkish Airlines Economy Class Tokyo Narita to Istanbul (Boeing 777)

In this review, we take a Turkish Airlines flight in economy class on the Boeing 777 from Tokyo Narita to Istanbul.

Boarding

After a great stopover in Tokyo it was finally time to fly back to Europe and to end my epic trip to Asia. I was definitely not looking forward to a flight of nearly 13 hours just to reach Istanbul.

As it’s one of the last international flights to depart from Tokyo Narita before the airport closes at night, boarding for the Istanbul flight was all rather calm in an eerily deserted terminal.

Priority boarding for business class passengers and Star Alliance gold members was neatly adhered to and there was no pushing and shoving whatsoever, although the latter might also have as much to do with the well-behaved and respectful passengers on this flight as the great majority were Japanese.

I was one of the first to board the Boeing 777-300 which would fly us to Turkey.

Unfortunately, instead of heading left into the business class cabin, this time I had to head right into coach upon entering the plane.

Tokyo Narita (NRT) to Istanbul (IST)
Flight TK53 – Boeing 777-300 (B77W) – Economy class, seat 15A
Departure: 11pm – Arrival: 5.40am
Flight time: 12h40m – Distance: 2,369 miles
Costs: 550 EUR for NRT-IST-OTP one-way

Turkish B777 economy cabin

Turkish Airlines currently has 33 Boeing 777s – which come in two configurations.

One is more premium heavy with 49 business class seats and 300 economy (349 total), while the other version has 28 seats in business and a whopping 372 seats in economy class (400 total).

With Tokyo being a business-heavy route, my plane (TC-JJN) is one in the former category. Economy seating is in a 3-3-3 configuration and I had selected window seat 15A.

I always prefer window seats above aisle seat – and this especially counts for overnight flights in economy.

At least I have the plane fuselage to rest my head on and sleep in a more normal position, and I do prefer to step over other people than having other people step over me if they need to use the lavatory.

God forbid being caught on a flight in which your neighbour(s) for some reason need to go to the loo every 30 minutes. Window seat it is for me!

Be careful not to select the window seats in row 14 however as these are “fake” window seats and miss a window.

The exit row window seats are also not preferable as despite the extra legroom they are not as wide due to the bigger, immovable armrest containing the tray table.

If you do opt for an extra legroom seat, I would advise to take an aisle seat (especially D and G in the middle).

Although the website is not always accurate, SeatGuru does have a good seat map of this particular configuration of the Turkish Airlines Boeing 777.

Turkish Boeing 777 economy seat

The Turkish Airlines economy class seat on the Boeing 777 is your average economy seat. It’s not great, nor is it that bad. The seat pitch is around 31 to 32 inch (79-81cm) while the width of the seat is about 18 inch (46cm).

Being 6’1 tall (185 centimetres) I thought the legroom was just acceptable enough.

That said, I thought the seat itself was rather comfortable and at not a point during the journey did I feel cramped or got any pain in my body from the seat.

The economy class seat on the Turkish Airlines Boeing 777 really is your average economy seat – don’t get in with high expectations, and you’ll be fine.

Each seat does have a USB charging port, so you can keep your phone or tablet charged on board the Turkish Airlines Boeing 777.

The tray table is also firm and big enough to support a laptop.

Amenity kit

A small pillow, blanket and headphones wrapped in a plastic were already put on my seat by the crew even before boarding started.

We were also given an amenity kit, which I thought was a really nice touch for economy class.

I not only liked the colourful pouch, but also the contents of the amenity kit were certainly acceptable and came in handy during the flight

There was a dental kit containing a toothbrush and toothpaste, earplugs, a sleep mask and even a pair of socks and some slippers.

I have seen business class amenity kits which were less impressive than this, so on this aspect I do think Turkish Airlines’ economy class scores well.

Departure

Despite the empty-looking gate area the flight turned out to be quite full. There were only a handful of seats left unoccupied in the economy cabin.

This meant that I had two seatmates as well: A young Japanese guy and a girl, who both seemed to be solo travellers as well, not knowing each other beforehand.

Fortunately, both of them turned out to be very polite and friendly, and at not a single time during the flight was I disturbed by my seat neighbours.

With boarding being completed at lightning speed and it only being a short taxi ride across the apron to the runway, we left Tokyo Narita a good 30 minutes early for our long flight to Istanbul.

In-flight entertainment

Despite the late evening departure it took quite a while for the crew to commence with the meal service, so I decided to play a bit around with the in-flight entertainment system.

The Turkish Airlines in-flight entertainment system is actually quite good.

The screen is large and has a decent resolution. You can use the in-flight entertainment by tapping the touch screen or by using the remote control, both of them being highly responsive and easy-to-use.

One thing I appreciated was that we received proper headphones instead of flimsy earbuds with low-quality sound.

Also the contents of the IFE system are quite good. Although it is by not as exhaustive as some airlines like Emirates have, I’d say that Turkish does rank among the better airlines when it comes to the choice of films and TV episodes.

There seemed to be a good mix between recent released and eternal favourites in all kind of movie categories.

I decided to watch the film Midway – which I thought was quite a logical choice flying out of Japan and having done a small Japan vs USA “battle” myself by visiting and comparing the ANA Business Lounge with the United Club at Tokyo Narita Airport before departure.

Dinner

After a good hour into the flight meal service finally started.

Turkish Airlines distributes nice little menus in economy class, so you can see exactly what is on offer when it comes to food and drinks on board.

For dinner, there was a choice between grilled filet of cod fish and stir-fried chicken.

I decided to go for the cod, which was turned out to be a decent choice.

The fish was served with veggies and pan-fried potatoes, a side salad with prawn and another side of green beans marinated in olive oil.

For dessert, we got a small cup of mixed berry mousse, which tasted great. Turkish always does desserts well, even in economy.

All together, I thought the meal was of good quality and certainly large enough in portion size.

Unfortunately, Turkish Airlines has recently decided to slash their offer of alcoholic drinks, and the current selection in economy class is basically just beer, wine or whiskey only.

The airline does however have a choice between Turkish or French wine – both for the whites and reds. I opted for a Turkish white, which was quite a good quality wine for economy.

After the meal service, the cabin crew passed down the aisle again for tea and coffee, which I declined.

We were also given bottled water for the night, which I thought was a nice touch.

Internet

Turkish Airlines entire wide-body fleet is equipped with Wi-Fi internet.

Business class passengers get 1 gigabyte for free, while economy class passengers can buy a 1-hour package costing 9.99 USD, or opt for a 24-hour package for 29.99 USD.

This are quite decent prices, especially that a 24-hour package could theoretically cover an itinerary with two connecting flights on Turkish.

What’s even better is that Turkish Airlines provides free Wi-Fi to members of its own Miles&Smiles frequent flyer programme.

Classic and Classic Plus members get 10 megabyte for free, while Elite and Elite Plus members get 400 MB for free.

Being a Miles&Smiles Elite member myself meant that I was lucky enough to receive the 400 MB for free.

It’s a breeze to connect to the in-flight Wi-Fi, as all I needed to do was to provide my name, Miles&Smiles membership number, as well as my seat number.

Wi-Fi speeds on this flight were actually quite decent, as even picture-heavy pages loaded within seconds.

I had no problem at all chatting a bit with friends over Messenger after the film while flying through Siberian airspace.

When we reached Lake Baikal, which I visited exactly two years before in the midst of winter, I decided it was time to try to get some sleep.

Breakfast

Surprisingly enough, I managed to get quite a bit of uninterrupted sleep, as by the time I was fully awake we had about two hours more to go to Istanbul.

The breakfast served was not as good as the meal I had for dinner, but that might have more to do with me selecting the wrong option.

I went for the mackerel and rice, basically the Japanese option compared to the other choice of scrambled eggs. The taste was err.. rather interesting!

My Japanese seatmates however seemed to enjoy their meals, so it might have been my Western taste buds not appreciating the flavours as much.

That said, I did appreciate the small bowl of fresh fruit.

Service

I thought the service by the cabin crew during the flight was good overall.

Although to my liking it took a bit too long to get the first meal service started, they seemed to work fast and streamlined, and interacted in a friendly, polite matter with every passenger.

During the coffee and tea service after the main meal I inquired with one of the flight attendants whether or not I could have a second bottle of white wine instead of a coffee.

The flight attendant told that he would bring it to me after finishing his round, which he indeed did a good 15 minutes later.

The flight attendants also made regular checks of the lavatories to ensure their cleanliness.

Arrival

Due to our early departure, we managed to arrive a good 40 minutes early in Istanbul.

After a smooth landing, it still took a long 20 minutes to reach our actual gate, which is something that is not uncommon at Istanbul’s gigantic new airport.

I thanked the crew for a good flight and disembarked the plane.

Unfortunately, we were all led to the upper corridor of the airport which meant I had to re-clear security to access the airside concourse again.

Somehow I had incorrectly assumed that Tokyo was deemed a “trusted point of origin”, of which passengers can be fed directly into the concourse without the need to get through security again.

Although this required a longer walk, there was only a light queue at the normal security checkpoint and no queue whatsoever at the fast track priority security point.

As I still had plenty of time to spare before my connecting flight to Bucharest, I slowly made my way to the Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Lounge for my airport layover.

In short

Turkish Airlines has a solid economy product on its Boeing 777, and scores good marks on almost every important aspect.

The airline serves good quality food in big portions. I fly Turkish quite a lot and I’m rarely disappointed by their in-flight meals.

Although wine, beer and whiskey is readily available, it is however slightly disappointed that other alcoholic drinks have been cut from economy class service in a cost-saving measure, although in the grand scheme of things that is a just a minor issue.

More important is the seat and comfort, and on this front Turkish does quite well too. Although the legroom is average at best, I thought the seat itself was comfortable enough.

The fact that I managed to get a couple of hours of uninterrupted sleep is testimony to that.

Economy passengers on Turkish Airlines do get a big, decent-quality blanket and pillow and a really nice amenity kit – another aspect which is a nice touch for economy class.

Moreover, each seat has a large in-flight entertainment screen, and there is a wide choice of films and other programmes loaded into the system to watch.

Those who want to stay connected will be happy to hear that there is on-board WiFi internet which is decently priced or even free if you are a Miles&Smiles elite member.

The service throughout the flight by the friendly and hardworking crew was good too. When the aircraft is still relatively clean after a long flight of over 12 hours, it is always a good sign.

Even though there might be room for improvement here and there, Turkish Airlines does provide a good economy product which is worth seeking out if the price is right.

It may not be the world’s best, but Turkish Airlines’ economy class certainly makes for a pleasant way to fly.

Trip report index

This article is part of the ‘Lazing in Laos and Gallivanting a Wee Bit Around Asia‘ trip report, which consists of the following chapters:

1. Review: Aegean Airlines Business Class Bucharest to Athens (Airbus A320)
2. Review: Goldair Handling Lounge (Non-Schengen) Athens Airport
3. Review: Saudia Business Class Athens to Jeddah (Airbus A320)
4. Review: Saudia Alfursan Lounge Jeddah Airport South Terminal
5. Review: Review: Saudia Business Class Jeddah to Kuala Lumpur (Boeing 787)
6. Review: CitizenM Hotel Kuala Lumpur Bukit Bintang
7. Kuala Lumpur in One Day: What to See and Do in 24 Hours
8. A Batu Caves Half Day Trip From Kuala Lumpur By Public Transport
9. Review: Plaza Premium Lounge Private Resting Suite Gateway KLIA2
10. Review: Air Asia Kuala Lumpur to Vientiane (Airbus A320)
11. Review: Hotel Khamvongsa, Vientiane, Laos
12. Destination Trip Report: A Day in Vientiane, Laos
13. Guide: Domestic Bus Travel in Laos and How to Book a Ticket
14. Review: Simon Riverside Hotel, Vang Vieng, Laos
15. Trip Report: Vang Vieng – Worth a Stop on Your Laos Itinerary?
16. Review: Villa Ban Phanluang, Luang Prabang, Laos
17. Luang Prabang: The Stunning Pearl of Indochina
18. Guide: Luang Prabang Morning, Food and Night Markets
19. Kuang Si Falls: A Gorgeous Luang Prabang Day Trip
20. Review: Thai Smile Economy Class Luang Prabang to Bangkok (Airbus A320)
21. Review: Ibis Styles Bangkok Sukhumvit 4
22. Review: Air France/KLM Business Lounge Bangkok Airport
23. Review: Garuda Indonesia Business Class Bangkok to Jakarta (Boeing 737-800)
24. Review: Sapphire Plaza Premium Lounge Terminal 3 Jakarta Airport
25. Review: Garuda Business Lounge Terminal 3 Jakarta Airport
26. Review: Review: Japan Airlines Business Class Jakarta to Tokyo Narita (Boeing 787-8)
27. Review: Capsule Hotel Transit Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
28. Tokyo Stopover: What to See and Do in the Capital of Japan for a Day
29. Review: ANA Business Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport
30. Review: United Club Tokyo Narita Airport
31. Review: Turkish Airlines Economy Class (Boeing 777) Tokyo Narita to Istanbul (current chapter)
32. Review: Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Lounge Istanbul Airport
33. Review: Turkish Airlines Economy Class Istanbul to Bucharest (Airbus A330)