Turkish Airlines Confirms Premium Economy Comeback, Reviving “Comfort Class” Era - Live and Let's Fly
UPDATE:Turkish Airlines has now confirmed that premium economy is coming back. Speaking toSkift, Turkish Airlines chairman Murat Şeker said, “We are going to have premium economy,” adding that the carrier is. . .
UPDATE:Turkish Airlines has now confirmed that premium economy is coming back. Speaking toSkift, Turkish Airlines chairman Murat Şeker said, “We are going to have premium economy,” adding that the carrier is targeting the beginning of 2028 for the new cabin, with the product initially expected onAirbus A350aircraft. That represents a notable reversal for Turkish Airlines, which had previously argued that it did not need a cabin between economy class and business class. The original version of this story below noted that Turkish had started surveying passengers about premium economy, but the carrier now appears to be actively developing the product. The A350 is the logical place to start. Turkish Airlines has a large Airbus widebody orderbook, including 50 A350-900s and 15 A350-1000s, and Skift reports that premium economy will first appear on newly delivered A350s, with retrofits planned for existing widebody aircraft later. That makes sense: Turkish can introduce the cabin cleanly on new aircraft before deciding how aggressively to retrofit the rest of its longhaul fleet. Some ex-Aeroflot A350 already have premium economy seats, that are currently treated as extra-legroom economy class. I continue to think this is the right move. Turkish once offered a very comfortable premium economy product called Comfort Class on its Boeing 777-300ERs, but removed it more than a decade ago. Since then, premium economy has become a profitable and increasingly important cabin for longhaul airlines. Turkish has excellent economy class and relatively strong business class, but there is now a clear commercial space between the two and I’m happy to see it return to Türk Hava Yolları. My original article from January 9, 2026 is below. It appears that Turkish Airlines is seriously considering the return of premium economy to its longhaul aircraft, a welcome move that brings back fond memories of “Comfort Class. ”Turkish Airlines Considering Bringing Back Premium EconomyTurkish was one of the original carriers to introduce premium economy and back in the day (dating back 15 years), I flew it often. It was branded “Comfort Class” and offered larger recliner seats in a 2-3-2 configuration on the Boeing 777-300ER. Here are some pictures I took of the seat, meals, and amenities:In 2013, Turkish announced it was removing Comfort Class due to “insufficient demand. ” Even today, I highly question that narrative and think the real reason was that Turkish was a victim of its own success…the upgraded service and comfort in Comfort Class at a much more reasonable price point, came at the real expense of people booking away from business class, which at the time was magnitudes more expensive than premium economy. When asked bySkiftin 2024 why Turkish eliminated Comfort Class, Turkish Airlines Chairman Ahmet Bolat explained:“You might remember in the old days we had premium economy on our Boeing 777s. It was meant for business travelers who couldn’t afford business class seats. However, nowadays the price we set for our business class is very affordable, so there is no need really for a premium economy. ”Whatever the reason may be, airlines have broadly found great success in premium economy class over the last decade and more often find that it encourages passengers to spend more to move up from economy class to premium economy class rather than cannibalize business class. 2PAXFlynotes that Turkish sent its Miles&Smiles loyalty passengers a survey at the end of 2025 that included many questions on premium economy:The survey asked passengers to rank priority features in a potential premium economy cabin, what would influence their decision to buy a premium economy ticket, how meals should be served in that cabin, and how much extra they would be willing to pay for more legroom and wider seating on flights of various lengths, from 2. 5 up to more than 8 hours. At the very least, this shows that Turkish is considering premium economy once again. Turkish offers excellent cuisine in all cabins of service, but I absolutely think there is room for a premium product that offers a wider seat with more recline and more refined dining. Priced right, this could be a viable option for many passengers who are willing to pay more, but not pay for business class (sometimes dictated by corporate travel policy). It has been noted that some ex-Aeroflot Airbus A350-900s already have premium seats onboard, which Turkish already sells at a premium. That’s a starting point, but one other problem Turkish ran into with its former Comfort Class was that only a limited subfleet of 777-300ER had premium economy seats installed, which made aircraft swaps and connections (when passengers were downgraded to economy class) difficult. CONCLUSIONTurkish Airlines is considering premium economy again and I think that makes a lot of sense. As Turkish Airlines expands further around the globe and concentrates on ultra-longhaul service like nonstops to Australia, a premium economy cabin would be a passenger-pleaser and also good for the carrier’s bottom line.