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Why Turkish Airlines Removed Its Premium Economy Cabin (Comfort Class)

Turkish Airlines dropped its Comfort Class premium-economy cabin after 2013. Here is what the airline confirmed, what it said about Toronto in 2016, and which reasons are only analysis.
From TheFinanceBase Team4 min to read

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Turkish Airlines withdrew Comfort Class, its premium-economy cabin, from its 777 fleet after a 2013 decision that its CEO confirmed publicly. The airline has not given one network-wide reason in the reporting available. Its clearest stated rationale is narrower: in 2016 it moved Comfort seats on its Toronto 777s into Business Class to meet demand for that product. Reporters’ explanations about customer awareness and cabin size are analysis, not company statements.

What Comfort Class was

Comfort Class sat between Business and Economy. Turkish Airlines’ original FAQ described it as the airline’s “new premium economy cabin class that is configured between business and economy cabin classes,” aimed at economy passengers who wanted more legroom, better catering and in-flight entertainment without paying for Business Class. The FAQ also laid out a planned 777 configuration and a rollout that began in late 2010 and continued through 2011.

The planned seat counts and pitch figures from that 2010 FAQ are below. The width and pitch measurement that follows comes from a separate 2011 cabin visit reported by Business Traveller, not from the airline.

Cabin Seats per 777 (2010 planned layout) Seat pitch (2010 FAQ)
Business 28 76 inches
Comfort (premium economy) 63 46 inches
Economy 246 32 inches
Total 337 Not stated

When Business Traveller visited the cabin in 2011, it reported a Comfort seat pitch of 116 cm and a width of 49 cm, with retractable leg rests, an in-armrest touchscreen, USB and iPod ports, and a dedicated menu. The airline’s then general manager for Hong Kong, the Philippines and Taiwan, Salih Keçe, described the product as aimed at people who could not afford Business but wanted more comfort on a long flight. Those are the only measured figures in the reporting; they describe the 2011 installation and should not be read as current seat specifications.

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What the airline announced in 2013

In June 2013, Business Traveller reported that Turkish Airlines CEO Temel Kotil confirmed at the IATA Annual General Meeting that Comfort Class would be removed from the 777-300ER fleet. According to that report, new Boeing aircraft would carry only Business and Economy, and existing 777-300ERs would be retrofitted to match. This is the broad, network-level decision, and it is the one the CEO confirmed on the record.

Why it was removed: three kinds of explanation

The reasons people usually repeat mix three different kinds of evidence. Keeping them separate is the only accurate way to answer the question.

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The clearest official reason: Toronto seats moved to Business

In April 2016, Turkish Airlines Canada announced that Comfort Class seats were being removed from its Toronto flights “to meet the market’s increasing demand” for Business Class. Business seating on each 777 serving Toronto rose from 28 to 49 seats, which the airline described as a 75% increase. That is a route-specific decision, made three years after the 2013 announcement, and the release does not extend it to the whole network.

Reporter analysis, not company explanation

The 2013 Business Traveller article also offered its own reasons for the cabin’s weak uptake. It suggested that customers in Gulf and Middle Eastern markets were less familiar with premium economy, that a 63-seat cabin may have been larger than demand justified, and that Comfort seats were not available on every route, which confused connecting passengers. These are plausible explanations, but they are the journalist’s interpretation. Turkish Airlines did not state them as its reasons, and they should be attributed to the reporting, not to the airline.

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What is not established

  • No public source reviewed sets out a single, company-wide business case for the 2013 withdrawal.
  • The 2016 Toronto figures describe one route. They do not show how much capacity was shifted across the rest of the fleet.
  • Passenger demand figures for Comfort Class, by market or by year, are not in the reporting.

Is Comfort Class still on sale?

Turkish Airlines’ 2023 fare explainer describes two ticket categories, Business Class and Economy Class. Some Economy fares differ in flexibility, miles earned and baggage allowance, but the explainer does not list a premium-economy cabin. It is a fare-category guide rather than a fleet-by-fleet seat map, so it can confirm the published framing but not the seat layout of every aircraft in service today. For current seat configurations, check the aircraft type and cabin layout on the airline’s booking flow for the specific flight.

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If you want more legroom on Turkish Airlines today

Because the premium-economy product is gone, the practical choice is between Economy fares with different conditions and Business Class. Compare them on these points:

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  • Cabin versus fare conditions. A more flexible Economy fare changes the rules you can use, not the seat pitch. Confirm the fare rules before you pay for extra comfort that the fare does not provide.
  • Baggage and miles. Check these separately for each fare, since they vary between Economy options.
  • Route and aircraft. Cabin layouts differ by aircraft and route. Look at the specific flight’s seat map before assuming a seat type exists.
  • Price against Business. Compare the Business fare with the Economy fare you would otherwise buy, and decide whether the difference in seat space and service is worth it for your trip.

The Comfort seats are gone, and the 2016 Toronto change shows the airline moving that capacity into Business rather than keeping a middle cabin. For travelers, the lesson is that the in-between cabin was never guaranteed on every route, so judge each flight on its own seat map and fare terms.

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