Round The World and other travel

Flight Log 7: TK1343

Istanbul (IST) - Edinburgh (EDI)

The aircraft for this flight, a Boeing 737-800, seemed to be brand new. Everything above head-level was in a style that I'd never seen before, from general cabin lighting to overhead lockers to air vents and reading lights. My understanding is that this new style was borrowed from Boeing's new 787 'Dreamliner'. Much more importantly, however, was the fact that I was in a fixed Business Class cabin with large and comfortable seats in 2+2 layout, very similar to Domestic First in the USA. This was obviously good news on what was going to be a four-hour sector. Once it became clear that the cabin wasn't full, the passenger in 2C moved forward to 1A, which meant all the more space for both of us.

Pre-departure drinks were offered, which is certainly not a 'given' in short-haul Business Class. The selection was the same as on my previous long-haul flight from Tokyo and, at the risk of seeming unadventurous, I repeated my previous choice of 'home-made' (i.e. cloudy) lemonade. Newspapers and magazines were also offered on the ground, which obviously isn't unusual. We pushed back just five minutes behind schedule and after nearly 15mins of taxiing and waiting, took off from Runway 35L.

The 737 was fitted with an in-flight entertainment system, so I thought that another movie would be a good idea and selected the relatively recent release Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. The breakfast trays were distributed (see right for photos) and when drinks were offered, I decided to live the premium-cabin life to the full and have champagne, water and coffee with my food. At this point, worryingly, a call went out for any passenger with medical training to make themselves known, but that was the last we heard on the matter.

Once the movie was over, I checked up on our route and found that we had initially crossed Romania and into Hungarian airspace, overflying Budapest, Brno, Prague and Paderborn. We had left the European continent behind just north of Amsterdam and were due to cross the coast of the island that I call home close to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I whiled away the time during the North Sea crossing by listening to the album Sospiri, by mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli.

The seat belt signs came on with still 25mins to run, because of turbulence. I noted that conditions below seemed decidedly hazy, in spite of the sunshine. We described a circle somewhere over the Borders, presumably to give better separation from the aircraft in front of us. We then passed over Musselburgh Racecourse to take up position for the classic 'Firth of Forth' approach into Edinburgh Airport. Sadly there were no nice views of the capital on this occasion, as the city was shrouded in haze and mist. The airport itself, on the other hand, was beautifully clear and basking in late-September sunshine.

Despite our slightly late departure from Istanbul, we managed to dock at the gate a few minutes ahead of schedule.

BELOW: Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800, newly arrived at Edinburgh