Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge at IST Remodeled

When I visited Istanbul the first time, I was really impressed with their lounge. Overall, it was the most impressive and airy lounge I've been to yet, but apparently Turkish Airlines didn't think it was enough. They hired the design firm Autoban to completly renovate the lounge and just seeing this makes me want to go back for another round of baklava and everything else that is Istanbul.

From Autoban:

Turkey's national flag carrier airline, Turkish Airlines' new CIP lounge has been opened in Istanbul Ataturk Airport International Departures. Designed by Autoban's architectural standpoint, the lounge is spread over 3000m2, with a daily capacity of 2000 people.

Taking into account the primary purpose of the space - to transmit "contemporary Turkey experience" to Turkish Airlines passengers - the design concept is based on the idea of a second shell within the existing shell of the airport hall. Main structure, established by making use of a combination of global forms. These plain spheres create interior combinations by dividing the place into sections that allow transitions between them.

CIP Lounge's each module undertakes a different function. Services like resting rooms, restaurant, tea garden, library, Movie Theater and so on provide passengers a chance to experience each and every different interior. Spatial organization, that gives the sense of discovering while advancing in the lounges; is the natural outcome of the desired architectural layer that place "experience" forward.

Black channels, located in the merging points of modules, are designed to allow mechanical and electrical systems. These channels are among the vital details that bring visual balance to modules which are produced in accordance with the understanding of industrial design.

 More after the break!

[via Contemporist]

What's it like in a Lounge?: International CIP Lounge in Istanbul

During my brief morning at the Istanbul airport, I managed to run into the Turkish Airlines International CIP lounge for a (very) quick bite. Of all the lounges, I've been in so far this one takes the cake and I wish that I had been able to spend a little more time there. However, the plane waits for no one, so I only had time for a croissant, coffee, and a few pictures.

Update: Turkish Airlines shut down the loung and has since completely remodelled. The new lounge looks over the top!

Turkish Airlines: ARN-IST round trip

This is my first experience with Turkish (TK) and overall they seem like a reasonable choice for where they fly, although the tickets from Stockholm to Istanbul are not the cheapest in the world. Ticket prices for destinations further off, however, have been pretty good for advance fairs to the far east (which yield decent mileage runs).

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On the way down, it was a A319 with a “soft” first class: A movable curtain and a choice not to fill the middle seat determined how much “first class” there was. Although I was in economy, I was seated in row 7 and it seemed to have more leg room than most economy classes I’ve been in (much more than my seat in row 21 on the way back).

The food was surprisingly good and menus were passed out ahead of time to tell us what we would be getting. In my case, I decided on the herbed chicken breast which was a clear step up from the normal airline chicken. All meals on Turkish comply with Muslim dietary requirements, but alcohol is also provided if desired (at least on this route).

One area that I think Turkish could use a little more attention is in their selection of movies: Predators and Day and Knight were the movies chosen on the flights there and back, respectively, and both start off fairly early with scenes involving flight mishaps. In Predators, the main characters start off in free fall with a semi-functioning parachute. In Knight and Day, the main character crash lands a plane in a field. I’m not sure if this is meant to suggest that if something bad happens it’s survivable or what. It also didn’t help that the landing into Istanbul was pretty rough, with winds, rain, and the plane moving in directions that it normally does not.

To give you an idea about how much rain there was, this is a photo from near where I was staying. It was literally a river as wide as the sidewalks and street combined!

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On the way back up, we were in a 737-800 and I was seated in an aisle seat back in row 21. The flight itself was uneventful, and an early morning flight. Again, menus were passed out and this time the meal was a surprisingly good scrambled eggs with a bit of turkey ham toast. Generally, I would say that the food on Turkish seems to be more flavorful and better than most. Turkish tastes seem to be fairly well adapted to flight, where the lack of humidity affects the way we perceive taste and makes virtually everything taste blander than it actually is (no kidding!)