SkinnyJ
Mar 29, 01, 4:33 am
I am not sure if anyone else out there is a transplanted expatriate working over here in the former Soviet Union, who has had the "delightful pleasure" of flying on some of the old Russian aircraft and well-used Boeings still in use by these state-owned airlines.
I'm a Canadian living in Kazakhstan and I work as an accountant for a large oil-drilling company. I made a cross-country trip to the capital city, Astana.
Leg 1 - Aktau to Almaty
I live in Aktau, which is a small city of 150,000 people, located on the Caspian Sea at the west end of the country. The airport is very typical of Soviet times - old run down buildings, very inefficient. Built for purpose, not comfort. No money here for upgrading so they use them as is. Was quite a shocker the first time I landed here.
Myself and my translator arrive just in time to make the VIP check in. A bit more efficient than the cattle-herding in the regular checkin building. At least we get a comfortable bus to the plane. Those who choose the other way get a beat up old trailer-bus that putters along the tarmac to the plane.
I had been looking forward to this flight on Air Kazakhstan - for once a Boeing 737 was making the trip instead of the usual Tupolev. I had been led to believe that the Boeings were more comfortable than the old Tupes, but this Boeing was an exception - very little leg room, short-backed uncomfortable seats with old upholstery. All of the messages around the plane were in Chinese as well as English.
The plane was jam packed full, and the concept of seat assignments hasn't quite been invented here in Aktau yet. Ever heard of "festival seating"? Take what you can get. The person who ended up sitting at the window seat in my row was "primed" for the flight and passed out about half way through the three-hour flight.
The meal, for once, was a hot meal (unheard of on Russian-built planes). The bad news was that it was FISH. I am not a big fish-eater to begin with, and to have it served to me in a foil container just wasn't appetizing enough. I passed on the fish and skipped right to the chocolate bar for dessert.
The landing in Almaty went by without incident. Better airport in Almaty, but not by much - the main terminal building burnt down two years ago and they cram everyone into a smaller building. Just so happened that a KLM flight had arrived about five minutes earlier from Amsterdam so baggage carts were scarce. However, taxi drivers were plenty.
Leg 2 - Almaty to Astana
After a good night's rest my translator and I headed to the Almaty airport for our flight to Astana. Much to my disappointment, the plane servicing the route that day was a Tupolev 154. Again, festival seating prevailed, even though there was an attempt at assigned seating.
I was pleasantly surprised, though. Very comfortable seats, nice high backs, and plenty of leg room. The meal service was the best I had ever had on Air Kazakhstan, even though it was a cold meal. Turkey croissant with salad, served on aesthetically pleasing plastic trays with matching coffee cups. Again, another pleasant surprise.
This was my first trip to Astana, and because this city was made the new capital a couple of years back, the government had pulled out the stops on the rebuilding process. Beautiful modern airport, with probably the only "red channel, green channel" customs area in Kazakhstan. I also believe that the only two jetways in existence in Kazakhstan are at the Astana airport. Very nice and very efficient. Best flight of my trip.
Leg 3 - the return home - Astana to Aktau
For the trip home, I chose the WRONG way to go. Instead of going back through Almaty, to save a bit of money (what can I say, I'm an accountant), I decided to fly back to Aktau on an Antonov-24 turboprop, with two stops on the way. 6.5 hours from start to finish if on schedule.
We show up at the airport and there is a large group of kids getting checked through. I'm watching the attendant mark the passenger numbers on the boarding passes and as she gets to #40 I start to worry (only 48 seats on an AN-24). Finally we get our boarding passes (44 and 45 - cutting it close).
Festival seating prevails once again and they squeeze us on to the tiny AN-24. No interior cabin lights, and this was definitely a plane built for purpose, not comfort. A cockpit crew of four.
The first chunk of this journey is a 3.5 hour flight to Aktyubinsk, across the north of Kazakhstan. Meal service was very typical of small Russian airlines - cold sausage and a bun, basically. I was really angry when I couldn't get coffee - only tea.
Landing in Aktyubinsk, everyone gets off the plane, including those travelling onwards. Finally we get herded back to our seats. As it turned out, the airline had oversold this flight from this point on. I think the highlight of my journey was sitting in my seat listening to the pilots, the single FA, some representative from the airport, and the disgruntled passengers without seats, all yelling at each other trying to come up with a solution to this dilemma. An hour or so delay while the bickering went on.
What really freaked me out about the Antonov-24 was when the plane is ready for takeoff and the pilot fires up the turbo on the engines - the plane shook like I could not believe. Very scary.
The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful - one more stop in Atyrau before Aktau. No oversold plane this time.
The whole ride from Astana was up and down and you could see it on some of the faces as we finally made it into Aktau.
Should have taken the Tupolev back to Almaty.
I'm a Canadian living in Kazakhstan and I work as an accountant for a large oil-drilling company. I made a cross-country trip to the capital city, Astana.
Leg 1 - Aktau to Almaty
I live in Aktau, which is a small city of 150,000 people, located on the Caspian Sea at the west end of the country. The airport is very typical of Soviet times - old run down buildings, very inefficient. Built for purpose, not comfort. No money here for upgrading so they use them as is. Was quite a shocker the first time I landed here.
Myself and my translator arrive just in time to make the VIP check in. A bit more efficient than the cattle-herding in the regular checkin building. At least we get a comfortable bus to the plane. Those who choose the other way get a beat up old trailer-bus that putters along the tarmac to the plane.
I had been looking forward to this flight on Air Kazakhstan - for once a Boeing 737 was making the trip instead of the usual Tupolev. I had been led to believe that the Boeings were more comfortable than the old Tupes, but this Boeing was an exception - very little leg room, short-backed uncomfortable seats with old upholstery. All of the messages around the plane were in Chinese as well as English.
The plane was jam packed full, and the concept of seat assignments hasn't quite been invented here in Aktau yet. Ever heard of "festival seating"? Take what you can get. The person who ended up sitting at the window seat in my row was "primed" for the flight and passed out about half way through the three-hour flight.
The meal, for once, was a hot meal (unheard of on Russian-built planes). The bad news was that it was FISH. I am not a big fish-eater to begin with, and to have it served to me in a foil container just wasn't appetizing enough. I passed on the fish and skipped right to the chocolate bar for dessert.
The landing in Almaty went by without incident. Better airport in Almaty, but not by much - the main terminal building burnt down two years ago and they cram everyone into a smaller building. Just so happened that a KLM flight had arrived about five minutes earlier from Amsterdam so baggage carts were scarce. However, taxi drivers were plenty.
Leg 2 - Almaty to Astana
After a good night's rest my translator and I headed to the Almaty airport for our flight to Astana. Much to my disappointment, the plane servicing the route that day was a Tupolev 154. Again, festival seating prevailed, even though there was an attempt at assigned seating.
I was pleasantly surprised, though. Very comfortable seats, nice high backs, and plenty of leg room. The meal service was the best I had ever had on Air Kazakhstan, even though it was a cold meal. Turkey croissant with salad, served on aesthetically pleasing plastic trays with matching coffee cups. Again, another pleasant surprise.
This was my first trip to Astana, and because this city was made the new capital a couple of years back, the government had pulled out the stops on the rebuilding process. Beautiful modern airport, with probably the only "red channel, green channel" customs area in Kazakhstan. I also believe that the only two jetways in existence in Kazakhstan are at the Astana airport. Very nice and very efficient. Best flight of my trip.
Leg 3 - the return home - Astana to Aktau
For the trip home, I chose the WRONG way to go. Instead of going back through Almaty, to save a bit of money (what can I say, I'm an accountant), I decided to fly back to Aktau on an Antonov-24 turboprop, with two stops on the way. 6.5 hours from start to finish if on schedule.
We show up at the airport and there is a large group of kids getting checked through. I'm watching the attendant mark the passenger numbers on the boarding passes and as she gets to #40 I start to worry (only 48 seats on an AN-24). Finally we get our boarding passes (44 and 45 - cutting it close).
Festival seating prevails once again and they squeeze us on to the tiny AN-24. No interior cabin lights, and this was definitely a plane built for purpose, not comfort. A cockpit crew of four.
The first chunk of this journey is a 3.5 hour flight to Aktyubinsk, across the north of Kazakhstan. Meal service was very typical of small Russian airlines - cold sausage and a bun, basically. I was really angry when I couldn't get coffee - only tea.
Landing in Aktyubinsk, everyone gets off the plane, including those travelling onwards. Finally we get herded back to our seats. As it turned out, the airline had oversold this flight from this point on. I think the highlight of my journey was sitting in my seat listening to the pilots, the single FA, some representative from the airport, and the disgruntled passengers without seats, all yelling at each other trying to come up with a solution to this dilemma. An hour or so delay while the bickering went on.
What really freaked me out about the Antonov-24 was when the plane is ready for takeoff and the pilot fires up the turbo on the engines - the plane shook like I could not believe. Very scary.
The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful - one more stop in Atyrau before Aktau. No oversold plane this time.
The whole ride from Astana was up and down and you could see it on some of the faces as we finally made it into Aktau.
Should have taken the Tupolev back to Almaty.