Airport Drama: Turkish A330 Business Class Astana

While I usually stick to chronological reviews, I had to share my long awaited Etihad First Class experience promptly after the trip. Now, I’m circling back to cover some flights from the last quarter of 2024.

First on the list: a Turkish Airlines Business Class journey – part of my return open-jaw Kazakhstan trip. The onboard experience was as refined as expected from Turkish Airlines. However, the ground experience in Astana showcased the chaos that unfolds when communication breaks down—a textbook case of how things can spiral when processes falter on the ground.

Astana Airport Check-in

Astana is not especially large, still with formalities of an unknown airport I allowed plenty of time with my Yango Taxi dropping me off at 7.30am on a frosty morning.

The temperature outside the building indicating a brisk -3°C – something that would have implications on your flight later.

Check-in was already underway, with a queue forming.

While there was a priority Business Class/Star Gold counter, its location wasn’t immediately obvious—a good reminder to always confirm rather than assume, to avoid wasting time in a full on Economy queue.

Despite being in the premium line, I waited about 7–8 minutes for just three passengers ahead of me—a bit underwhelming for a Business Class experience. The passenger in front of me, a Star Gold member traveling in Economy, faced a frustrating dilemma over Turkish Airlines’ baggage policy.

Turkish Airlines Baggage Policy: Confusion Reigns

This particular passenger had a single bag weighing 27 kg, exceeding the 23 kg allowance on his ticket. He assumed his Star Alliance Gold status granted an additional 20 kg – which should cover this extra 4 Kg, but the agents insisted it allowed a second 23 kg bag instead—each bag had to remain under 23 KG.

He appealed his lack of a second bag to shift this extra weight to – his tiny suitcase carry-on being unsuitable. To no avail the passenger was forced to step aside and attempt to repack. I can understand his dilemma in the situation – and thought Turkish were being unnecessarily harsh in this case.

Meanwhile, my Business ticket had a 40 Kg allowance + an additional bag at 20KG or maybe 23K as a Gold member? I only had a single bag weighting 18 Kg.  But that left me wondering, what if I had a two bags weighting 60Kg – how would Turkish insist on it’s distribution? It’s own website was not clear and the agent got confused with my questions !

And yet, this was not yet half the drama of the day !

Once I was check-in and through to London, the security formalities went a little more smoothly

Astana Lounge

Turkish Airlines only has it’s own dedicated lounges in a handful of outstations. Usually they have a contract lounge agreements in place elsewhere. In both Almaty and Astana airport, that is not the case. Business Class passengers have no lounge provisions here at all. Some may rightly find this a shortcoming.

I turned to Priority Pass and DragonPass for alternatives, settling on the Sapar Lounge – only option in the international departures.

Small, crowded, and offering limited breakfast items, it was far from luxurious.

I managed to find some stools to sit here at the back, though moments later this area was full..

After a coffee and some pastries, I decided the chaos wasn’t worth enduring and left for the gate early.

Boarding Drama: Plane Departs Without Passengers

Arriving at the gate, I was relieved to see our Airbus A330 aircraft being prepared for.

With no lounge access, most passengers had gathered early, and the gate area quickly filled up.

Our scheduled boarding time passed with no announcements. Around 10:30 AM, I noticed the jet bridge disconnecting—and to my shock, the plane began taxiing away!

No explanations, no announcements, just growing confusion among passengers.

Some passengers frantically approached the gate agents – speculating about cancellations or long delays – some passengers began leaving the gate area. The tension reached a fever pitch when I could hear some shouting followed by a bang – to see a panicked passenger trip and fall at the thought of missing the flight.

When I approached an agent I was informed that the flight was delayed by an hour due to a “problem.” No further details were provided. Still a slight relief it wasn’t a cancellation.

Second Boarding Attempt

Our flight was still designated the same gate 7, where I headed back to 45 minutes later. At 12:00 PM, boarding finally started..

The process was relatively efficient despite the earlier chaos. With the Business Class cabin boarding almost full within minutes.

Hoped for a quick departure however did not actualize. Despite leaving the gate, after a slow taxi, we stopped again—for a second round of de-icing due to the morning’s icy conditions.

We eventually took off at 1:00 PM, nearly three hours behind schedule. Leaving me 30 minutes to catch my connecting flight to London !

Turkish A330 Business Class Astana To Istanbul

Turkish A330-300 Business Class cabin consists of 28 full flat seats arranged in 2-2-2 layout. This still represents the bulk of TK’s Business Class experiences in the skies today even if the airline had introduced newer products for its new 787 and A350 deliveries.

I covered more of these seats on my Turkish Business Class to Bangkok review – in summary they are still very comfortable if rather dated ..

This remote seriously brings back memories of my student days !

Luckily, Turkish already has an excellent ex-Aeroflot A350 product and would be launching even more luxurious new Business Suite this year!

Service began on the ground with typical welcome refreshments. I opted for freshly squeezed orange juice..

 

Turkish Business Class Amenities

Placed in each seat was a leather amenity pouch by Italian luxury designer Ferragomo – which is rather impressive for a daytime mid-haul flight..

This contained Ferragamo lotion, lip balm, as well as Turkish branded eye shades, flight socks and dental kit.

Off course for long haul flights you have full bedding and slippers etc

Turkish Airlines Mid-Haul Business Class Service

To the crew’s credit, the crew swiftly commenced the service as soon as we crossed 10,000 feet.

It would be breakfast, but not fear, this is off-course not another Brunch gate situation here – the flight was meant to depart just past 10.am.

The menu was as follow:

Service started with drinks and the starter tray consisting of “smoked beef, white cheese and tomatoes, cucumbers, marinated olives, dried fig jam from Bodrum and country butter” served alongside overnight oats, mini selection of fruits and choice of pastries..

Impeccable presentation as usual from TK!

After that, I was rather impressed with the four choice of mains here.

Whilst I love Turkish food and would have gone for the Turkish choice here, I fancied the sound of “Homemade banana pancake – sour cherry, coulis, vanilla sauce”

The pancake was truly excellent – Turkish really impresses in all areas of dining !

The crew were quick to clear away the plates and offer further hot drinks or other beverages after.

I spent a couple of hours relaxing in a reclined lounge position – while watching a couple of documentaries and intermittently enjoying the views of the skies. The purest enjoyment of flight!

Pre-Landing Service

About an hour before landing the crew began offering the pre-landing snack service to those that wanted. This is not in the menu but was exactly the same sandwich I had on my Turkish flight to Tashkent !

We landed 25 minutes earlier than expected, and I made it onto my London flight!

Overall Thoughts

This was yet another thoroughly enjoyable Turkish Airlines business class flight. With 6 flights in 2024 alone – I really am impressed with the consistency of the service and catering! Kudus to Turkish for that.

This flight also highlights Turkish’s and for that matter many other world class airlines considerable short-comings led by lack of communication and a sense of strong customer service/service recovery protocols. I am glad I did not miss my second flight – because Turkish ground handling agents are not always great to deal with if there was no quick fixes.

Finally, I’ve seen some nefarious rumours circling about Turkish bedbug infestation which would be concerning to anyone –  in my 6 flights in 2024 and 2 already in 2025 – I have to say, I have never found cleanliness a concern unlike many flagship European airlines. If someone did indeed experience something like that it’s rather unfortunate.