Turkish Airlines operates 3 lounges at New Istanbul Airport.
- Turkish Airlines Business Lounge
- Turkish Airlines Lounge Miles & Smiles (Star Alliance Gold)
- Turkish Airlines Domestic Lounge
I visited the Turkish Airlines Business Lounge after my Turkish Airlines B787 flight from Dubai.
The Turkish Airlines Business Lounge is open to all Turkish Airlines Business Class and Star Alliance Business Class passengers; the entrance to the lounge is located near gate E1, no guests are allowed. If you have a guest, who is flying in Economy, you can invite the guest to use the Miles & Smiles lounge with you.
Below are some pictures I took of the lounge. The lounge is open 24/7, it has an area of 5.600 m2 and seats 765 people. If you are familiar with the old Turkish Airlines lounge at Ataturk, then all the amenities can still be found here in the new lounge! The layout of the new lounge is just on one single floor instead of the two floors at Ataturk.
There is a digital piano straight to the right of the entrance, on the left you can find some pod seats and the reception for the shower rooms and suites.
You can find lockers to store your bags and a WiFi station to print the WiFi password, by scanning your boarding pass. Mind you the WiFi was really slow during my visit.
There are plenty of seating areas along the food area and towards the back side of the lounge. Unlike the old lounge the new lounge didn't feel particularly crowded during my visit, once at 14:00 and once at 23:00. This may have been due to the fact that all the elite frequent flyers were using the Miles & Smiles lounge, instead of the Business lounge.
Perhaps the best thing at the Turkish Airlines Business Lounge is the food area. There are many live cooking stations by caterer DO&CO. Here are some of the food and beverage stations you can visit:
- Turkish Kebab and pastries
- Turkish Mezze (40 types)
- Turkish Pide
- Pasta station
- Int'l cuisine (Asian)
- Dessert station
- Turkish tea station
Please see my latest video on all the F&B options:
A new feature inside the Turkish Airlines Business Lounge is the art gallery, partnered with Istanbul Modern. The gallery was very quiet during my visit.
Towards the back side of the lounge, you can find a children's area which includes: mini kart racing, virtual golf and a children's slide area.
To the left of the entrance area you will find the shower suites and sleeping rooms, called Private Suites.
In order to qualify to use the private suite, you must meet the following condition:
- This is only valid for those travelling in Turkish Airlines Business Class
- This is only available to those who have a connection of between four and nine hours
- At least one of your flights (either arriving or departing) needs to be of at least eight hours in length
There is also an ironing service (by staff) near the entrance of the bathroom area. No particular restrictions are in place to use the free pressing service.
There are also some staff in white uniforms walking around offering passengers free in seat shoulder massages. I didn't get one those during my visit and I am not sure how they select and approach customers.
Lounge verdict
I think the new Turkish Airlines Business Lounge is much improved and less crowded compared to the old lounge at Ataturk (due to the new Miles & Smiles lounge sharing the load). No doubt, the strongest point of the lounge is the food and beverage; there are lots of options to choose from and will please every palate.
The lounge is huge, I recommend staying over 2-3 hours to enjoy all the amenities there. It is in an open roof area so it can be a bit noisy. The WiFi in the lounge is very slow, this is something they need to fix. Overall, the lounge is one of the best and busiest large scale Business Lounges I've visited.
Please share with me your experience in the Turkish Airlines Business Lounge in the comment section below.