When flying between Europe and Australia we usually end up going through the Middle East but in 2026 that was something of an issue so we had to get creative in finding a business class route that didn’t cost a fortune. That’s when we stumbled upon a very fun (but very random) route with the first leg being Istanbul to Ulaanbaatar Mongolia!
Compared to most routes between Europe and Asia, this route is surprisingly affordable and gave us the chance not only to visit Mongolia for the first time, but also try out Turkish Airlines - an airline we’d heard good things about.
If you’re unfamiliar with Turkish Airlines, it has become one of the biggest networks in the world, serving 246 destinations worldwide from their hub at Istanbul Airport. Their fleet is a mixed bag, some routes are served with their modern planes, while the Ulaanbaatar route is on their older A330 plane.
This review is based on the older plane, so hopefully some of the problems we had are fixed on the other routes! Here’s what we experienced.
Our route and ticket price
The route
As we mentioned our route was from Istanbul to Ulaanbaatar Mongolia, which is a 7 hour 50 minute flight.
Our flight departed at 18:30 which makes things a bit tricky in regards to jet lag; the time difference between the two places is 5 hours, so your body-clock is at 2:20am when you land (7:20am)! Ideally, you’ll want to book a hotel that will let you check-in early (thank you Kempinski, you were a godsend for two very jet-lagged travellers).
The price
In 2026 terms, this ticket was good value at just over US$1,150 per person (GB£850, €1,010) as most other flights between Europe and Asia at this time were charging 4 times the amount. The economy tickets were also good value at US$335, meaning business class was 3-4 times the price.
To get to Australia, we then took a 3 hour flight to Seoul, South Korea before heading on to Sydney.
What’s included in the price
Turkish Airlines are good when it comes to what is included in the price. There are no extra charges for selecting a seat (unlike airlines such as Qatar, Etihad and British Airways) and they allow the option to pay in 50 currencies, so you can avoid foreign currency charges. However, always check the exchange rates, as it could end up costing you more.
The checked baggage allowance is very good at 40kg per person, and two 8kg carry-on bags. The ticket also includes a lounge pass to their excellent business class lounge in Istanbul as well as onboard wifi. All luggage is designated as priority, so it should be first off the belt.
Our experience on Turkish Airlines’ Business Class
Cabin layout and space
The layout of the Turkish Airlines A330 is an old school 2-2-2 configuration, meaning there are no solo seats anywhere in the cabin. Just like LATAM, the business class cabin is pretty big and feels spacious.
It’s a decent setup for couples who may not like the claustrophobic feel you get in some modern business class cabins which feel like small cubicles.
For solo travellers and people who really want privacy, the cabin will be a big problem. If you’re travelling alone the proximity of your neighbour may feel a little too personal.
There’s a sliding divider, but you will still be pretty close to a complete stranger. If you are in the window seat you will also have to climb over said stranger to reach the aisle.
The openness of the cabin won’t be for everyone either, as you can see all the passengers on your row and many of the other rows around you. While we don’t mind the open nature of the A330 cabin, it does have a bit of a flying dorm feel about it.
As mentioned above, this layout is specific to the older planes in the Turkish Airlines fleet. The newer ones will have a 1-2-1 configuration giving a completely different dynamic.
A very strange part of the configuration was that there was only one toilet specifically for business class. There were two in the divide between economy and business (which means you share it with economy) and only one at the front of the plane for the 28 business class passengers onboard.
Layout and space score: 7/10 because we prefer the openness to boxy cubicles. Others will see this the opposite way.
The seat
The length of the seat on the A330 is the biggest positive and as soon as you walk up to your seat you’ll notice the huge amount of legroom. The people in front of you feel a mile away. We counted 4 windows between our seats and the ones in front!
The open nature of the seat also means no footwells, so the combination of the huge legroom and no footwell means you won’t find your feet trapped when you go into the lie flat position (which is a big tick for us). The beds also recline in a straight line, so you don’t have to contort or lie at a strange angle like you do on the Singapore Airlines A380 for example.
Each seat has a lap belt and comes with a single USB-A charging port, plug socket, reading light and extra luggage compartments under the arm rest and the foot rest beneath the screen. You are given two blankets (small and big)
The first negative is that while the seat is long, it’s pretty narrow. When the seat is in the lie-flat position, we found our arms were crushed up against our bodies. This is ok if you sleep on your side, but not good if you lie on your back.
Secondly, while there is a thin mattress pad, it doesn’t do much to mitigate the joins and lumps in the seat. It’s great to be able to fully recline, but I wouldn’t say you feel overly comfortable. It’s 100x better than economy, but you just wish they made those mattress pads thicker!
Finally, there are no individual air vents on the A330. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem as most airlines like to create arctic conditions, but this was the first time we’d been on a flight where they instead chose the sauna setting…
Seat score: 7/10 - fully reclines and has a mattress pad unlike some airlines. Lies straight and legs and feet feel roomy. Bit lumpy and narrow though.
Food & service
It’s hard to write this section without coming off as really picky, but the food and service on our Turkish Airlines flight was one of the worst we’ve experienced on a business class flight. It’s a real shame, as many reviewers highlight the food and service as being one of the best in the sky, but on our flight we can only say it was pretty underwhelming on all fronts.
It was quite a surprise as we loved the airport lounge! As we’ll explain below, it’s one of the best we’ve been to, so the drop between lounge and plane was quite dramatic.
It didn’t help that our plane was parked on the tarmac at the other side of the airport, so our flight started with getting a bus that drove for a while and then kept us locked in like sardines for 10 minutes in the heat before we could board.
Upon boarding, we could tell nothing had been set up as there was a frantic rush to serve up fruit juices that tasted like sugar syrup from a cheap bottle. No sparkling wine, champagne or anything else, just the rather unappealing sugar drink. You had to wait for about 30-40 minutes into the flight to get another drink or a hot towel etc.
The service in general was not unfriendly, but not nearly as friendly or welcoming as the economy Korean Air flight that we took next.
Once we were up in the air, the menus came out and the underwhelm continued. Normally airlines like to show off where their drinks come from, with an elaborate list of wines, beers, cocktails and spirits. Our drinks list looked more akin to economy, with soft drinks, 4 teas, 2 beers, just the word “champagne” (nothing more about it) and 2 types of wine for each colour (even writing this makes me cringe but when you’re paying a lot of money you have to be honest).
When you asked for any drink, you were given a tiny glass and we noticed that all drinks were poured from a large bottle that was kept in the galley, so you may end up with a flat soft drink if it has been open too long.
The food was a major let down, especially as some reviewers have talked about it being the best in the industry. The starter was a single cold prawn, surrounded by old potatoes and a sickly cream sauce. My main was an Adana kebab which tasted as bad as it looks below. In many ways, the main felt like it was an economy meal put into a fancy dish.
Cat’s gnocchi was decent, but essentially it was gnocchi with tomato sauce. The dessert was nice, but again it was just a small mousse.
Breakfast was a similar affair with everything being served at once and it was pretty tasteless. As breakfast is always a pretty terrible affair on any airline, I opted against the main, but Cat had the strudel which she said tasted ok but like a very sweet dessert.
All of it was served on a plastic tray with a cloth at the same time (except the main which was swapped in for the starter dish).
The service wasn’t great either sadly. You felt like you had to continuously call the cabin crew to get a drink and there were no water bottles so asking for a drink was more frequent than it would normally be! From a food and service perspective, Turkish Airlines business class felt like a slightly dressed up economy class.
I genuinely think the food, drinks and service on all the Emirates economy class flights I have taken were better than this flight with Turkish Airlines.
Food & Service score: 2/10 - not great. See it as a little better than economy.
Wifi & Inflight Entertainment
The wifi and in-flight entertainment for Turkish Airlines is good and rivals most other airlines.
Turkish Airlines offers just over 1gb of data on their wifi for business class passengers and it does a pretty decent job for the basics. I did a speed test and it came back with 55mb download and 3mb upload. In reality, you probably couldn’t watch videos on YouTube, but you can message and browse. As it’s free, it’s a pretty good offering.
The screen for the inflight entertainment is big and high quality, and they offer a lot of the latest movies, documentaries and tv shows. If you’re on a long flight, you won’t be bored with the choice, and I’d say it’s not quite as extensive as Emirates, but it’s on par with the better airlines.
The only downsides of the inflight entertainment were the headphones, which were pretty tiny and not great quality. Some airlines will offer sound-cancelling headphones of good quality, but these felt like they were only a notch above economy headphones.
Also, the screen sits strangely low, which is good if you recline, but if you sit upright you have to look down. Not a biggie, but felt a bit weird at first.
Wi-fi & entertainment score: 8/10 - both pretty good. Not great headphones is the only letdown.
The amenity kit
The amenity kit is Lanvin and offers everything you might need, including eye mask, socks, lip balm, hand cream, toothpaste and toothbrush and ear plugs.
The Lounge & Check-In Process
We’ve visited quite a few business class lounges and we’d have to say the one at Istanbul is up there with the very best. We loved the new airport at Istanbul and felt that all aspects of it were great (apart from the bus to the plane). We’d recommend arriving early for your flight so that you can make the most of your time in the lounge.
Business Class has it’s own check area, with seats by the desks which made it feel like you were checking into a luxury hotel as opposed to a flight. Then you walk a short distance to the business class passport control and security line which was quick and seamless.
Then comes the lounge, which was superb. There are a lot of food choices here and you can see them being cooked in front of you. I had the lamb meatballs, which were some of the best I’ve ever had, but the other food options here were also brilliant. Cat loved the fresh gozleme and the salad bar was extensive, fresh and tasty.
There’s also a pasta station, several different Turkish mains and one place even served up Kaiserschmarrn (we’d never even heard of it before!).
There’s also a couple of wine bars dotted around with about a dozen choices of wines, soft drink fridges, an espresso bar, olive bar, fruit bar, cake bar and chocolate fountain.
Based on our experience on the plane, we’d recommend eating and drinking more at the lounge as it was a lot better than the plane!
The one drawback is that the cubicles for work are limited and fill up quite quickly. There’s plenty of dining tables and chairs, and there’s a good amount of lounge style seating, but in terms of getting work done it’s a bit more limited. The best seats weren’t easy to snag.
There’s also very nice showers which you should book as soon as you arrive as the wait can be up to an hour long. You’ll get a buzzer to let you know when it’s your turn.
Oh and the toilets were also like you would find at a 5 star hotel!
Lounge & check-in score: 10/10. One of the best.
The overall experience
Positives
Good value route. US$1k on a long haul flight is rare in 2026
Spacious leg room and fully reclining seat
Open cabin layout which doesn’t feel claustrophobic
Lounge at Istanbul airport is excellent
Negatives
The food and drinks are poor quality and there are not many options
Narrow seat and thin mattress topper make the seat less comfortable
No privacy and layout is poor for solo travellers
Service isn’t great
Is it worth it?
Overall, whether the A330 Business Class on Turkish Airlines is worth it depends on the price you pay and if you go into it knowing what to expect. The food isn’t great, the service isn’t brilliant and many people won’t love the seat. However, at just over US$1k, getting a fully lie flat seat with space may be worth it.
For us, the seat is the most important part of flying business class, so we’d say it was worth it. However, we understand that not everyone will think this, especially solo travellers for whom the lack of privacy may be an issue.
How does it compare to others?
As we’ve been writing these reviews, we’ve put together a little league table of our favourites. Here’s where Turkish Airlines sits:
1. Qatar
2. Cathay Pacific
3. Qantas
4. Singapore Airlines A350
5. Emirates
6. Etihad
7. LATAM
8. Turkish Airlines
9. Singapore Airlines A380
10. Garuda Indonesia
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