Per the title. We'll be flying to Mauritius later in the year and the sensible options i.e. Avoiding CDG are to fly with Emirates via Dubai or Turkish via Istanbul.
Never flown with them Emirates before, but have flown economy long haul with Qatar and Etihad, so have an idea what to expect. For a similar price we can fly with Turkish at more favourable times and shorter total duration, although the legs are uneven length, whereas with Emirates they are about the same. They are also part of star alliance, so good for my miles balance! There may also be an option to do a mileage upgrade to business with Turkish too.
I know nothing about Turkish Airlines. Anyone have any experience/opinions/comparisons - ideally emirates economy vs Turkish economy or Turkish economy vs business. In case it matters the long haul section is on an A330.
I travel a ridiculous amount for work and have actually flown both Emirates and Turkish - in principle I find them both more comfortable (seats, meals, service...) than most other airlines (Singapore and Etihad are pretty good too of course).
I actually considered Turkish airlines one of the best companies around until one hellish trip where I got caught at Istanbul airport in the middle of an attack (yes that one). The behavior of the staff on that night put me off to the extent I haven't flown with them again.
Objectively - its a comfortable airline for a long flight and I personally like(d) transiting through Istanbul more than Dubai. I think they're also marginally more cost effective and if you can upgrade to business then I can tell you that the lounge at Istanbul is simply top of the class - never experienced a nicer one.
I flew to Mauritius over Istanbul this past October, I'd probably avoid doing it again only because the airport is so packed but I was also 10 weeks pregnant, nauseous, and miserable so that might've had an impact on my overall experience.
I've flown 3 of the 4 on long haul - Etihad, Emirates and Turkish. I think all are equally comfortable in economy and the food is similar. Etihad let us do a stopover for a few days in Dubai without extra charge, and that was nice.
In your shoes, for similar cost, I'd probably go with Turkish to get the miles on star alliance and hopefully the upgrade too.
I flew from New Delhi to Istanbul once with Turkish. It's not the longest flight ever, but it was fine. The Turkish lounge at the Istanbul airport is amazing though, that was definitely worth it. They also offered a free tour of the city if you happened to have enough time during your layover, not sure if that's still on.
I've flown Turkish short haul and Emirates long haul, and of the two, I'd go with Emirates for personal reasons.
Just checked the Emirates timetable on this route for May (for example), and all legs would be on the A380 with stopover times of roughly 4-7hrs in Dubai.
Turkish are an award winning airline, but personally, I find Ataturk airport dark and claustrophobic (low ceilings), at least in the areas where I've been. However, Turkish fly the A330-300 on that route which has lie flat beds in Business class.
I have flown Etihad, Turkish and Emirates. I place Turkish third. Mostly business class work flying for me, but service on Turkish is distant third. Hard product closer than service, but still third. Also, Istanbul airport (Ataturk) is really poor for layover. Other two are generally too close to call for difference. I personally like Abu Dhabi airport best of the three (smallest and most manageable).
I flew Turkish to South Africa a while back and found the product more than decent. The business lounge in Istanbul has got to be one of the better Star Alliance lounges, but otherwise the airport is not great.
Turkish aircraft were comfortable and the food was really good. On the shorthaul leg from ZRH to Istanbul, although only an A320 they had nice business class seats, rather than just eco seats keeping the middle seat free.
Last time I took Emirates I had a drinks tray spilled over me at the beginning of the flight. The purser was too busy to come see me at any time during the 6 hour flight. Now, if I have to take any of the Gulf 3 airlines I stick with Qatar.
Having flown the 380 a few times, this would really put me off as an economy passenger . Check-in, boarding, meal service, de-planing, immigration, luggage collection and customs take forEVER. It's not any more comfortable than a 330, imo.
However if flying business and you get the better treatment, faster service + lounge it might be worthwhile on the 380.
Really? My last flight with Emirates had on-board crew from 20 countries speaking 21 languages. Are you implying they train crew from all nationalities to act "Arab" toward non-whites? WTH is acting "Arab" btw?
I fly twice a year with Emirates to Australia and the crew is always very friendly and efficient. I have just arrived back from Melbourne and I enjoyed talking to the flight attendants from about 19 to 20 different countries.
I stopped flying with Turkish airlines last year although I had never had any problems but I prefer Dubai as a stop-over.
I flew several times with turkish airlines as a turkish citizen from vienna to istanbul, prague to ist, zurich to istanbul, athens to istanbul and return direction..
Turkish airlines is the best airlines in Turkey (we have bunch of airlines), they really offer good services. I also flew with other airlines (the foreign ones) but i can definitely say that turkish airlines is the most. The seat is big enough, food is very delicious, stuff is always kind ( i never meet some wrong), i flew always with economic class (i was a student ) and for me was quite satisfied..
Note: An idiot (sorry for that) called the turkish people are arabic, not european. Turkish is not arabic, neither european, nor mongol. We came from the asia one thousand years ago to the anatolia, but our country location is in europe and asia (we call it 'avrasya) and if you consider also ottoman empire, our land was in 3 continents (asia-europe-africa). And you are such an idiot (sorry again), even the topic is about airlines, you talk about nationality. (I just wanted to give a short answer, i am really sorry for my rude message, i cant understand some kind of people.. )
My mate and former colleague from Lancashire (born and bred) was Etihad cabin crew, and the last time I flew Emirates Business class, the crew just in that section spoke 16 languages and included a girls from Ireland and Finland.
Transiting through Dubai on the route the OP is looking at shouldn't be an issue as DXB has a dedicated A380 pier. If there's time to watch the fares before booking, I'd put a marker on Emirates Business class fares to watch for any change as the No.1 option.
I flew Turkish from Istanbul to Johannesburg, and whilst the service was good, the legroom was particularly limited, especially compared to Emirates. I am not sure which aircraft we flew, so it might be better on the one you'll be taking to Mauritius.
I often fly Emirates, even though the layovers can be longer, because (i) the service is excellent, the cabins tend to be spacious with good legroom, and (iii) the airport definitely makes for a better layover than Istanbul Ataturk.