Flying from an Artificialy made island airport to Brussels

[etopsflyers]

Hello dear Aviation 24 familly,

I am back from my mileage run and guess who is a Star Alliance gold member .

As you know in aviation changes occur very often due to many different reasons to include weather, regulations, technical problems etc.

Now during my mileage run I had various flights cancelled due to weather and eventually changed plans.
On the last day I was schedulled to fly TZX-IST then Pegasus to Charleroi from SAW however as my flight from Trabzon got cancelled I was given the option to fly from OGU(about 2H road trip from TZX) to Istanbul by Turkish but could not make it in time to my pegasus flight departing from SAW(about 1.5H if you commute by public transport) and no I didn't want to take a cab in Istanbul!

I checked various options(various options at IST in this case means TK or TK otherwise I could fly KLM or Lufthansa with crazy layovers and crazy prices or eventualy fly via Ukraine...)but to get back home ASAP TK was the option.
prices were far to high (some people were charged 3700TRY around 620€ one way from IST to FRA by TK!!) so I opted for the cheaper option of redeeming miles and flying Turkish to BRU.
This "last minute ticket" cost me 10.000miles+97€.
If you ever travel with TK via Istanbul at any airport(IST,ISL,SAW) DO NOT miss your connecting flight!
They won't help you!!
I saw an american women in tears because she would be charged 3.000$ for a one ticket to LA as she missed her flight, a Turkish guy angry because of the same situation and getting charged 3700TRY to FRA and many more so please don't miss you flight!
Not only TK but many airlines only care about money, they see you as money thats it.
Don't think you will be able to negotiate anything if you are at fault with any airline and surely not with TK.

All in all I was upset by all the changes but being myself a pilot I realised why changes happen and calmed down not too long after.

I tried to enjoy every moment aboard and around airplanes thinking about how lucky I am.

The flights were great, in flight service good and airplanes clean.
I hate TK on the ground but thy are OK inflight.

Again I made a video of my trip from OGU all the way to Brussels via Istanbul which is the last one for 2018 and would like to share it with you.

Here is the video:



Hope you enjoy!!
Happy new year familly!
Fly safe,
Etops Flyers

[sn26567]

Again a nice video. Thanks for sharing.

OGU doesn't really look like an artificial island with the hills behind the terminal building

IST is indeed very busy. I took the same TK1941 flight one and a half months ago, coming back from Iran. And I agree with you that TK service on board is excellent.

The A321 seems to be the staple of the TK short- and medium-haul fleet: I had four of them to and from Iran.

[sn26567]

And I cannot resist sharing one picture I made while landing at IST on 24 Oct, on my way to Iran:

The Bosphorus bridge seen from TK1944

[jan_olieslagers]

OGU doesn't really look like an artificial island with the hills behind the terminal building

Nothing like looking at a good map: https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=14/40.9639/38.0771

[DIBO]

OGU looks even a bit like an (giant) aircraft carrier from way up https://www.google.be/maps/@40.9628967, ... a=!3m1!1e3

[etopsflyers]

Infact, I just realised I should not call this an island but I think we all got why I called it so.

André your picture is stunning!

Flying Turkish very often and on various destinations, I see they are good but maybe lack a standard.(still growing? Growing too fast?)
For instance some flights you get a menu flying economy sometimes not.
Sometimes your IFE works great sometimes it doesnt.
You could fly a band new 777 one day then fly the way back on an almost 20Y/O 737 on some routes especially on domestic flights.
I had superb flights with Turkish on brand new 737-900ER's 321's 330-300's but I also recall flying a 332 to BRU with no IFE working or eventualy flying to IST on a 2-2 business class 321 then flying back with a 3-3 configuration 737-800 not to mention my CPH-IST experience in a 332 J class which was more jet airways than Turkish.
So yes some would say they are excellent some would be disappointed.

[galaxy]

And I cannot resist sharing one picture I made while landing at IST on 24 Oct, on my way to Iran:

P1050014a.jpg

Very beautiful picture

[etopsflyers]

It seems like I'll be flying TK again this January from Germany and a few domestic flights as well would you guys be interested to see more or enough TK for you?

[sn26567]

We're always interested in new original experiences

[etopsflyers]

Great to know