New Turkish Airlines “Crystal” Business Class Launching Soon… Finally!

Turkish Airlines is one of my favorite airline brands, and also offers one of the best business class experiences in the world. That’s despite the fact that Turkish doesn’t have a particularly good business class hard product, at least not with any consistency. Fortunately that’s expected to change, though at a very slow pace. In 2024, the airline unveiled an all-new business class product, which was supposed to be introduced in 2025. That timeline has come and gone, so the latest is that the airline is promising this product will launch in the coming months, before the end of the year… Basics of Turkish Airlines’ new Crystal business class suiteTurkish Airlines plans new business class for 777s & A350sBottom line Basics of Turkish Airlines’ new Crystal business class suite Turkish Airlines is introducing a new business class, branded as “Crystal.” Below is a promotional video the airline put out about the new seat back in July 2024, which I must say is very well done. Turkish Airlines’ new business class features direct aisle access and privacy doors at all seats. The cabin is in a 1-2-1 configuration, and is in a staggered layout. In the center section, every other row of seats has “honeymoon” suites, for those who want to sit close to one another. There’s great attention to detail with the cabin finishes, like 22″ high definitional entertainment monitors, wireless charging, and the use of real marble (which… seems a bit excessive?). Interestingly, Turkish Airlines is manufacturing this seat in-house, so the airline isn’t working with one of the major seating manufacturers, as I understand it. This does, however, look fairly similar to the Safran Unity seat, which is proving to be a popular “next generation” business class seat. You’ll find this staggered product on Japan Airlines’ Airbus A350-1000s, Riyadh Air’s Boeing 787-9s, etc. This is also the seat that Qantas will offer on its Airbus A350-1000s. Safran Unity on the Japan Airlines A350 Currently the product that’s most similar to this at Turkish Airlines is the carrier’s A350-900 business class, for jets that were initially intended for Aeroflot. These feature business class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration with doors and good tech. That’s the Collins Aerospace Horizon seat, which is also an excellent product. Current Turkish Airlines Airbus A350 business class Turkish Airlines plans new business class for 777s & A350s So, when should we expect Turkish Airlines’ new business class to debut? The expectation is that this will be offered on newly delivered planes as of November 2026, while it’ll be retrofitted on existing aircraft as of some point in 2027 or 2028. It’s really disappointing how much the retrofit project has been delayed, since the initial plan was to retrofit all existing Boeing 777-300ERs with these seats, starting in 2025. But that timeline has been pushed back by years. The airline has 33 of these aircraft in its fleet, and they’re an average of around 11 years old, so they still have quite a bit of life left in them. This new product is long overdue for 777s, which currently have a 2-3-2 layout in business class. When the 777s are reconfigured, the expectation is that the business class cabin will be reduced in size from 49 seats to 44 seats. So it’ll still be a good size, but not quite as big. Current Turkish Airlines Boeing 777 business class Current Turkish Airlines Boeing 777 business class However, due to those delays, the plan is more immediately for this product to be installed on newly delivered Airbus A350s that are delivered as of November 2026. This will initially include A350-900s, and eventually A350-1000s, once delivered. There are no firm plans to retrofit this product on existing Boeing 787-9s or Airbus A350-900s, as those planes already feature direct aisle access from all business class seats. Bottom line Turkish Airlines will be introducing its new Crystal business class product. The new product will be in a 1-2-1 configuration, with direct aisle access and privacy doors at each seat. It should really take the Turkish business class experience to the next level. Unfortunately entry into service for this product has been majorly delayed. This is now expected to be introduced on newly delivered Airbus A350s as of November 2026, and retrofitted on existing Boeing 777s as of 2027 or 2028. That’s a far cry from the initial timeline of retrofits starting in 2025. Either way, it sounds like we’re not too far off from the first of these planes entering service. What do you make of Turkish Airlines’ new business class seats?