Turkish Airlines NOT "Perfectly Yours"

On my way home from Seoul i had to fly via Istanbul to get home in reasonable time. Arrived at Atatürk airport this morning at 0500 hours and was scheduled for flight TK 1761 bound for Helsinki at 9.40.

After spending approx  3,5 hours in the Zone lounge I was surprised that the flight was nowhere to be found on the monitors. Went up to the information desk at 8.45 to enquire regarding why the flight doesn't show up on the monitors and was awestruck by the answers I got: "The flight is cancelled due to weather conditions". When I asked for the reason why this information is not available on the monitors I was told that Turkish Airline didn't want to show it on the monitor!!!!! WHY?

Picture taken at 9.06. 34 minutes before scheduled departure.

No info regarding flight TK 1761 to Helsinki

I'm totally fine with the flight being cancelled but what pisses me off is that Turkish Airlines is not informing their passengers about the cancellation.

Went to Turkish Airlines transit desk where I received my new boarding pass for flight TK 1763 departing at 13.15 today. When I asked the staff why TK is not informing their passengers about the cancellation they couldn't give me an answer. The only thing I got was the telephone number to Turkish Airlines flight announcement office: +90 212 463 6363, extension 15588. I asked the transfer staff to make sure the flight status would be visible on the monitors because I guess I'm not the only passenger longing for this information regarding flight 1761.

10 minutes after I made the request regarding flight status updates on monitors nothing had happened (see picture above).

Went back to the lounge and when no info was available on the monitors at 9.15 I called the flight announcement office. I kindly asked them to updated info on the monitors, but without any luck as you can see from the picture below.

Picture taken at 9.33

So here I'm sitting writing out my frustration, waiting for the next flight. To conclude - I have never, ever experienced such negligent behaviour from any airline before. Every time there has been some sort of delays or cancellations the passengers have been informed about it. According to me the minimum demand, we as passengers, should expect from an airline is information about changes in schedules. In fact airlines have an obligation to inform their passengers about delays or cancellations. Based upon today's experience I can clearly say that Turkish Airlines is not living up to the regulations they should follow when flying in Europe i.e. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004.

@Turkish Airlines: Would have been a nice gesture of you to offer some meals or refreshment as stated in Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 article 9! But I guess these regulations are not for you to follow!?

LOT flight LO 471 WAW -HEL

Departure: 16.50 (16.35)
Arrival: 19.20 (19.20)
Inflight service: Baguette a la LOT

Was great to be back in Warsaw. Had the opportunity to visit one of my absolute all-time favourite restaurants "Gessler Restauracje u Kucharzy". The restaurant is located in the old kitchen of Hotel Europejski. The fun part is that it's still the kitchen, but now it's also facilitating the dining area. I.e. you are eating among the chefs performing their duties. The food being served is a typical blend of traditional Polish dishes, in other words "nothing to write home about" - it's the atmosphere that makes it so unique. However, one dish they serve is something out of the extraordinary - The Beef Tartar. It's heavenly and divine...absolute top notch. If you go to Warsaw, a visit to u Kucharzy should be mandatory.

Picture: http://www.gessler.pl  

The flight back home was a pleasant one. The dry bread roll had been replaced with a decent baguette and now they also served the "Prince Polo" chocolate I was craving for on the flight to WAW.

LOT Flight 458 ARN - WAW

Departure: 19.10 (18.50)
Arrival: 20.50 (20.40)
Inflight service: Bread roll a la LOT
Landing: Yep, we did it with landing gears ;-)

Getting onboard a LOT flight always make me feel quite at home. This is due to the fact that I used to live in Warsaw for one and a half year. And exactly as Finnair gets me "Home by night" today, LOT did it back then.

I have to admit, I've only been to Poland once since I left 3 years ago. But I guess nothing much has changed. At least boarding the LOT flight tonight felt exactly as it did 3 years ago. Was looking forward to getting the traditional LOT tray consisting of a sandwich, Prince Polo chocolate and last but not least - ketchup!? Unfortunately this traditional dish was nowhere to be found. Instead they served the driest of bread rolls - "Bon Appetit"!

Blue1 flight KF 425 HEL-ARN

Departure 9.30 (8.00)
Arrival 9.28 (8.00)
Inflight service: Wasn't able to stay awake, so I wouldn't know.

Landing: Surprisingly smooth. 
Looks like the weather finally has taken its toll...First big delay due to weather this winter. With last winter fresh in mind a 1,5 hours delay feels like a fart in the universe :-)