Turkish Airlines TK54 Istanbul to Singapore Boeing 777-300ER Flight Review (from Edinburgh)

Turkish Airlines TK54 is the daily red eye flight from Istanbul to Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1. Heading back to Singapore, I encountered a series of schedule changes with Turkish Airlines, which resulted in my original Stopover in Istanbul plan being scrapped as my original flight did not exist any more, but I was allowed to change my flight and travel date free of charge. As the connections at Istanbul will not fit well for an attractive Touristanbul either, I decided to just get a shorter transit at Istanbul for my free date and flight change, which means I will be taking the TK1346 and TK54 combination back to Singapore. For this final leg of the journey from the UK, my Turkish Airlines TK54 flight from Istanbul to Singapore is operated by a Boeing 777-300ER.

Istanbul Airport

I headed out of the transit area into Türkiye with this slightly longer transit time, allowing me to see the İstanbul Havalimanı (Istanbul Airport) Metro Station. The façade of İstanbul Havalimanı (Istanbul Airport) Metro Station can be seen from İstanbul Havalimanı (Istanbul Airport) Metro Station, but the many tiers of car parks and the covered walkway blocks much of the view of the huge terminal building.

The departures floor can be access by direct escalators from the arrival level outside the terminal building.

Taking the escalator up to the departures level.

Is it just me, or does this departure level layout and design remind me of Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Terminal 3?

There is even security screening immediately when entering the terminal building from the departures entrance.

Once inside the terminal, the departure hall then reminds me of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1.

The many flags of Türkiye remind me of where I am.

Quite surprisingly, the departure hall was empty and silent. You could hear a pin drop in the huge terminal building.

I had already received my boarding pass for my Turkish Airlines TK54 flight from Istanbul to Singapore in Edinburgh with a through check-in, so there was no need for me to do anything here except to check my gate.

With the emptiness, there were also no queues at departure immigration.

After immigration and security screening, the path leads to the middle part of the transit area, where  passengers from the main international transfers section ascend to.

Gates can be checked from the big departure screen here. My Turkish Airlines TK54 flight will be departing from Gate A4B.

The A gates are on the left.

The shopping area at Istanbul Airport is huge, but with lots of space for walking too.

I didn’t have a lot of time to walk around the transit area, as “Last Call” was flashed even before 1am. That’s more than 1 hour prior to departure time.

Heading down the escalator to the A pier.

The travellator to Gate A4 was not too long.

However, I was greeted with an escalator down to the gate. This must be a bus terminal then especially when there are 6 suffixes for Gate A4.

Heading down the escalator to Gate A4 for my bus ride to Singapore.

The A4 bus gate had ample seating, with passengers already lining up to board the bus to the plane. I was a tad annoyed by this as despite having such a huge airport terminal with 143 passenger boarding bridges, I had to get an apron bus on both sectors of this leg of the trip. It looks like the new Istanbul Airport is not big enough.

There were 2 queues but the gate staff were not really bothered about the seat zones printed on the boarding pass as everyone will be funneled onto the same bus waiting outside.

Istanbul Airport Apron Bus

Boarding the apron bus for my Turkish Airlines TK54 flight to Singapore.

The interior of the COBUS 3000.

Boarding the apron bus from Gate A4B also allows me a last view of the main terminal building and public area of Istanbul Airport.

Driving out to the remote stand.

TC-JJF will be flying me from Istanbul to Singapore.

After a short delay, probably for operational reasons and confirmation, the doors were opened.

I’ve boarded at aprons for many narrowbody flights before, but there’s something about standing in front of a Boeing 777 that humbles you.

There was also a bit of confusion here as no staff were on hand to usher passengers on board, and only the front door of the bus was opened first, so everyone only headed to the rear stairs.

However, as my seat was in front, I decided to walk to the front stairs anyway, and with no one stopping me, I made my way up to board the plane.

Business Class

Heading past the Business Class section. There are 49 Business Class seats in this widebody aircraft, which are flat bed seats.

Economy Class

Heading into the Economy Class section. There are 300 Economy Class seats in this widebody aircraft.

Amenities

Some frills were laid on my seat already, which is nice to have, but it greatly reduced the space in my seat. Learning from my experience on the onward flight, I managed to put most of the things away to get comfortable.

The legroom available on board the Turkish Airlines Boeing 777-300ER.

The in-flight entertainment (IFE) system on board this Boeing 777-300ER aircraft was notably much more ancient than my previous 3 Turkish Airlines flight. The screen was the older jelly-type screen where it works better when using a stylus or fingernail to tap the soft screen, a remote control which still changes channels, a side regular USB port with what I think is an ethernet port, and one of those older pin cable thing probably for sound which I haven’t seen in years on a plane.

The interface and entertainment selection is thankfully the same as the other flights.

The flight information is not interactive, and is a channel.

The information will rotate every few seconds in the information channel.

However, as the aircraft is equipped with WiFi, live television is available. It’s a strange meet of new and old.

The safety video is played during pushback. The Turkish version is played first, followed by the English version.

Türk Hava Yolları Uçuş Emniyet Videosu

Turkish Airlines Safety Video

Camera views of the front and bottom of the aircraft are available to watch

My Turkish Airlines TK54 flight departed from Istanbul at 2.15am – 15 minutes delayed.

A throwback to my Jacobite trip, I decided to watch a bit of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for the scene where Harry and Ron use the Flying Car to get to Hogwarts after missing the train.

Amenity Kit

After the seat belt signs were off and the cabin lights were lit again, the crew came around with an amenity kit and a menu card.

Menu Card

The menu is in both Turkish and English. There are 2 selections for Supper, both of which sounded good to me – Meatball With “Kaşar” Cheese or Mac & Cheese Penne with Mushrooms. For breakfast, only 1 option of Scrambled Eggs and Turkish Pastry with Spinach is offered.

A selection of juices, soft drinks, hot drinks, wines, and beer are also offered throughout the flight.

Toilet

As compared with my onward flight, the toilets on this TK54 flight was quite clean throughout the flight, with the crew constantly checking on the toilets.

The sink and mirror available on board.

Both facial tissues and paper towels are provided.

Soap is provided in a separate bottle (white), with a cologne spray to keep fresh on the long flight.

Meatball With “Kaşar” Cheese

For supper, I opted for the Turkish option of Meatball With “Kaşar” Cheese. I would have liked the pasta as well, but I remembered that I just had pasta on my flight from Edinburgh, and I will be getting mushrooms for breakfast anyway.

The Meatball With “Kaşar” Cheese dish was served with chickpea ragout and buttered rice. The meatball was surprisingly elongated instead of a shape of a ball. Forgive me if I sound unlearned but it is my first time eating such a Turkish dish. The Kaşar cheese was also melted on top of the meatball, enhancing the flavour of both items. The chickpea ragout and buttered rice were moist and very flavourful.

For the sides, there is a carrot salad on süzme yoğurt, marinated zuchinni with olive oil, a bread roll, and pana cotta for dessert.

For drinks, I ordered a red wine and sour cherry juice. I’m starting to quite like the sour cherry juice, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find it in Istanbul Airport to buy it back to Singapore.

Coffee, tea, and water are offered as the crew came around to clear the trays after the meal service. I opted for a coffee as I wasn’t planning to sleep much on this flight, in the hopes of avoiding any jetlag after arriving in Singapore.

A bottle of mineral water was also handed out to each passenger before the cabin lights were dimmed for the lull period.

Oregano and Olive Oil Crackers

During the lull period, the cabin crew came round with a basket of Oregano and Olive Oil Crackers for those still awake.

Scrambled Eggs and Turkish Pastry with Spinach

Breakfast was served about 2 hours before arrival into Singapore. Only 1 option is available, Scrambled Eggs and Turkish Pastry with Spinach, so service was a little faster.

The Scrambled Eggs and Turkish Pastry with Spinach was absolutely amazing. The scrambled eggs were flavourful, fluffy, and perfectly seasoned, with the diced tomato ratio just nice as a side without overpowering the egg. While the pastry was soggy, I found it nicely soft, salty and flavourful combined with the spinach. This is a perfect pair with the scrambled eggs. A world of difference with the breakfast I had ex-SIN.

For the sides, there is a homemade yoghurt with dried fruit and honey, selection of cheese with olive, cucumber and tomato, and a hard bread roll with butter and sour cherry jam.

For drinks, I ordered a coffee and apple juice.

Coffee, tea, and water are offered as the crew came around to clear the trays after the meal service. I opted for a tea this time, since it’s already afternoon on approach to Singapore.

Once the service had ended nicely, it was about time for arrival into Singapore.

The broadcasting screens were switched to the camera channel facing downwards.

Flying over parts of Batam.

Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1

Landing on Runway 02L.

My Turkish Airlines TK54 landed at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1 at 5.12pm – 43 minutes early.

Taxiing to Terminal 1.

The broadcasting screens changed to the front view too.

Gate D34

Parked at Gate D34.

Heading out the front door via the Business Class section since I was on the right aisle.

Heading up the aerobridge.

Thank you, TC-JJF.

It was not too far from Gate D34 to immigration up the D pier.

Arrival Immigration

Heading down to arrival immigration.

Remember to fill up your SG Arrival Card (SGAC) within three (3) days (including the day of arrival) before arrival in Singapore. All passengers arriving by flight, including Singaporeans and PRs, must fill up the SG Arrival Card (SGAC) with Electronic Health Declaration.

Heading past duty-free after clearing immigration. I just came from the land of scotch whisky anyway, and the prices at Lotte Duty Free Changi Airport aren’t that competitive.

Baggage Reclaim

Even before checking the screen for where to pick up my luggage, the belt came to me instead at Belt 20, the very first belt on the left in front of duty free.

With the efficiency in stepping off the plane with an aerobridge and queue-less immigration, without stopping for alcohol shopping too, I had to wait quite a while for my bags to appear. Presumably transit baggage from Istanbul were loaded up to the aircraft first.

In total, I waited 25 minutes for my bag at the baggage carousel.

From here, I got a taxi back home since I was travelling with considerable amounts of baggage, maximising my 30kg baggage allowance.

Conclusion

This Turkish Airlines Boeing 777-300ER was showing its age, with the older seat and entertainment system, and the loud engines too. Having flown mainly with narrowbodies, or the more modern widebodies like the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 nowadays, I forgot that the General Electric GE90 were this loud. Nevertheless, all other products of Turkish Airlines were definitely up to par, with friendly crew, a good selection of entertainment options on the IFE, and excellent catering.