Moscow 2011: Dubai to Istanbul

Moscow 2011: Dubai Layover

• Introduction
• The low-cost part of the trip: Penang to Hong Kong
• Hong Kong “forced” layover
• 1^st time in first class: Hong Kong United and Thai First Lounge
• 1^st time in first class: Hong Kong to Bangkok
• The Thai F experience in Bangkok
• Bangkok to Dubai
• Dubai Layover
• Dubai to Istanbul
• Istanbul Layover
• Istanbul to Moscow
• Moscow
• Moscow to Frankfurt
• Frankfurt Layover
• Lufthansa First Class Terminal
• More 1^st Class – Frankfurt to Cairo
• Cairo Layover
• Cairo to Istanbul
• RIP THY 1^st class: Istanbul to Hong Kong
• Conclusion

________________________________________________________________________

The 3 hours in the lounge seem to go by pretty quick but we were made to wait slightly longer with a 1 hour delay.  2 out of 3 flights delayed already? :(

When we got to the gate, I was surprised that I saw a Turkish plane. I read on flyertalk that this flight was supposed to be a BMI leased/operated flight.  Maybe a last minute plane change?

Plane to Istanbul:

The boarding was somewhat chaotic with only one line and no one enforcing the boarding order.  There was also only one aerobridge for this flight. All the chaos seem to go away once we boarded the plane.  The plane felt more comfortable than the previous Thai flight with plenty of leg room in business class:

It turns out that this flight was indeed a leased BMI flight for Turkish Airlines.  The in-flight supervisor was from BMI with another BMI stewardess with the remaining cabin crew coming from Turkish Airlines.  The flight crew probably was from BMI as well - the pilot had an English accent.  I guess Turkish Airlines repainted the leased plane from BMI.

Interesting safety card showing both BMI and Turkish Airlines logo:

While waiting for the flight to take off, both of us fell asleep.  It did feel a long time before we took off and I woke up right as we approached take-off where we were the forth of fifth flight lining up to take off.  This further delayed our flight.

There was no AVOD on this flight.  They were some technical difficulties with the in-flight entertainment. Apparently, some seats didn't even get any video/audio in spite of several reboots and the in-flight supervisor could only offer an apology.  The audio on my seat was also "funky" where English was playing on the right earphone and Turkish on the left.  I removed the left earphone and watched a movie that way.

After an hour after take-off, breakfast was served.  More food and champange:

Menu:

Cheese Plate/Starter:

Eggs:

Turkish Pastry:

Turkish Coffee:

More Champange:

Overall the flight experience was mixed.  There were no pre-departure drinks.  The Turkish crew seemed less polished and rushed the meal service.  The food was pretty good.  The flight parked at a remote gate with buses taking us to the main terminal.  The stewardess did not guard the door when we landed for business class passengers creating a rush.  There was also no business class bus.