Turkish Airlines 737-800 Seat Selection Guide (2026)

The three rows that decide your flight

Rows 10, 11 and 12 sit together in the extra-legroom band, and on a booking map they look interchangeable. They are not. The legroom and the recline come apart across those three rows, and the seat that looks best is the one that gives you the least.

One caveat worth stating plainly: the cabin-level note says "rows 10 and 11: no recline" as a blanket statement, while the seat-by-seat data applies the restriction only to the window and middle seats in those rows. We have followed the seat-level data, which is the more specific record. If recline matters enough to drive the booking, row 12 removes the question entirely.

Row 5 is not the good bulkhead row

Most seat-map sites rate row 5 as the best block in Economy, on the reasonable assumption that a bulkhead row means legroom. On this aircraft it does not. All six seats in row 5 are flagged, for three separate reasons:

• The wall is closer than a normal bulkhead — 44 cm (17″) ahead of the seat, which is less clearance than a typical bulkhead row gives you.
• No underseat storage. Everything goes in the overhead bin for taxi, takeoff and landing.
• The tray table and screen live in the armrest, which narrows the seat you actually sit in — and row 5 is the one economy row where the armrests do not lift.

5C and 5D are the least bad of the six: the bulkhead in front of them covers only about 70% of the width, leaving some foot room on the outer side. If you have a bassinet booking you have no choice. Otherwise, row 12 is better in every dimension that matters.

Version lottery: 151 seats or 154

Turkish flies the 737-800 in two separately documented configurations. They share the same Business cabin, the same seat models, the same IFE and the same row numbering. The differences are small, and all of them sit in places most travellers will never reach.

This is a mild lottery by SeatCompare standards. Nobody's flight is ruined by drawing one over the other — the extra-legroom rows differ by a single inch, and the three extra seats on the 154-seat jet — 27A, 27B and 27C, which do not exist on the 151-seat one — are all in the worst row on the aircraft. The lottery gives the larger jet three more seats and every one of them is a seat we tell you to avoid.

Business Class — rows 1–4, 2-2

Sixteen Recaro CL4420 recliners at 42″ pitch and 20.5″ width, with 16″ of recline. There is no middle seat and no C or D lettering — the cabin runs A B on the left and E F on the right. Each seat has a 12″ touchscreen, a four-way adjustable headrest and a personal air vent. The armrests are fixed.

This is a short-haul recliner product, not a lie-flat one, and 16″ of recline is modest even by that standard. Choose for position rather than product, because every seat in the cabin is the same seat.

• 1A, 1B, 1E, 1F — most legroom. The bulkhead row leads the cabin with extra space ahead, and unlike Economy's bulkhead it comes without the storage and tray-table penalties.
• 3A and 3F — best windows. Well-aligned single windows, and far enough back to be clear of the forward galley.
• 4A and 4F on the 151-seat layout match 3A/3F for window quality. On the 154-seat layout they are not singled out.
• Row 4 aisle seats are the closest to the Economy cabin divider and the first-off position on arrival, if that is what you optimise for.

Economy — rows 5–27, 3-3

TSI Epianka slimline seats at 30″ pitch and 17″ width, with 3″ of recline and a 9″ touchscreen. Armrests lift in every row except row 5. Power is USB-A at the seat; there is no AC outlet in this cabin or any other, so a laptop needs its own battery for the whole flight.

Best seats in Economy

• 12A–12F — the whole row. Extra pitch, full recline, and 12A and 12F each have two windows rather than one.
• 11C and 11D — extra pitch with recline intact, unlike the window and middle seats in the same row.
• 18F — the standout window in the standard cabin, well-aligned in a stretch where several neighbouring rows are not.

Seats to avoid in Economy

• Row 26, all six seats — directly against the lavatory. Noise, odour and a queue at your shoulder for the whole flight.
• Row 27, all seats — the same lavatory problem, plus the galley behind the centre seats, with bright light and clatter during meal service. On the 151-seat layout this row is only 27D, 27E and 27F.
• 7A, 8A and 8F — sold as window seats, and there is no window at these positions at all. A flat wall.
• 17A, 17F, 19A, 19F, 21A, 21F — a window exists but sits behind the seat, so you lean back to look out. Tolerable if you want somewhere to rest your head, poor if you want the view.
• 25A, 25B, 25E, 25F — two rows from the rear lavatory, with the queue forming alongside.
• All of row 5 — see above.

Cabin features

Two things absent from both cabins are worth naming: no AC power and no Bluetooth audio. Bring a wired headset and a power bank. WiFi is Anuvu Ku-band across the fleet at 10–40 Mbps, which is enough to stream.

Quick-pick by traveller

How to tell which version you are on

Turkish does not label the two layouts differently when you book — both show as Boeing 737-800. Two tells work from the seat map on the booking page:

1. Look at row 27. If it shows six seats, 27A through 27F, you are on the 154-seat layout. If the left-hand half is missing and the row starts at 27D, you are on the 151-seat one. This is the cleanest single tell.
2. Count the total. 151 or 154. The Business cabin is 16 either way, so the difference is entirely in Economy: 135 against 138.

Neither version is worth rebooking for. If the seat map has not loaded yet, assume the 151-seat layout — there are eighteen of those against four of the other.

Frequently asked

What is the best seat on the Turkish 737-800?

In Economy, row 12 — any of the six. It carries the extra pitch of the exit-row band without the recline restriction that affects rows 10 and 11, and 12A and 12F each have two windows. If you want an aisle, 11C and 11D are equally good. In Business, row 1 for legroom or 3A/3F for the window.

Which seats should I avoid?

Rows 26 and 27 are the worst on the aircraft — every seat sits against a lavatory, with the galley behind the centre seats in row 27. After that, 7A, 8A and 8F have no window despite being sold as window seats, and row 5's bulkhead gives you less legroom than a normal bulkhead along with no underseat storage.

Does the Turkish 737-800 have power outlets?

USB-A only, in both cabins. There is no AC outlet anywhere on the aircraft — not even in Business. USB-A alone will not keep a laptop alive, so bring a power bank on anything longer than a couple of hours.

Is Turkish Airlines Business Class on the 737-800 lie-flat?

No. It is a Recaro CL4420 recliner at 42″ pitch and 20.5″ width, with 16″ of recline, in a 2-2 layout with no middle seat. This is a regional and short-haul product — Turkish's lie-flat Business is on the widebody fleet.

Is the exit row worth paying for?

Partly. Rows 11 and 12 have roughly seven extra inches of pitch and are worth it. Row 10 is not — it has standard 30″ pitch and its window and middle seats do not recline, so it is strictly worse than an ordinary row further forward.

Is there WiFi on the Turkish 737-800?

Yes — Anuvu Ku-band satellite WiFi, fitted across both layouts, delivering roughly 10–40 Mbps. That is fast enough to stream. IFE is Panasonic eX1 on-demand, on a 9″ screen in Economy and 12″ in Business, and there is no Bluetooth audio pairing, so bring a wired headset.

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