Turkish Airlines review by GARRY ROBSON

I fly with Turkish Airlines regularly - I live in Turkey these days, so unfortunately my options are limited. I flew to Dar recently - the plane was a 737 which for a flight time of seven hrs is a tad small, in my opinion. The inflight experience was normal for Turkish Airlines in my experience - once onboard, the staff were surly, bordering on rude. The meal was no better than average. In seven hrs i received one glass of wine, when I asked for a second I was simply ignored, as if I had made an improper suggestion. I received a single tiny container of water and later in the flight i was provided with a sandwich which was bread with barely any filling and a cola. No snacks. Miserable, really. All smiles when you exist the plane of course - one gets the impression that you were no more than an imposition. Perhaps the crew were glad to see the back of us - i know i was glad to see the back of them. I waited for my suitcase and when the carousel started, suitcases were loaded and went round and round. One or two people retrieved theirs. After a good twenty minutes the baggage handlers started to remove the suitcases from the carousel. I asked if there was any more – one of the handlers advised me these suitcases were from a flight, the passengers of which, had arrived two days previously! A fellow passenger approached me and showed me his phone - he had a transponder tag in his suitcase, which showed his luggage was still in Istanbul. Me and FIFTY other passengers were left to wrangle with a single local agent who was completely overwhelmed. I filled in a form and left. I attempted to call the phone numbers I found on the web – over four days I must have called the four numbers, each twice per day but no one ever answered. Eventually on the fourth day I took it on myself to the airport where I eventually found my suitcase. In the lost luggage. Despite leaving my contact details on my lost luggage form including a local phone number, no one attempted to contact me. Turkish Airlines are the most difficult – almost impossible Airline to contact. I will raise a complaint with the Aviation Authorities as i believe i will receive no sense from Turkish Airlines. I tend to find that companies like this who are full of self promotion are the least competent and the most disappointing.