Trip Reports - Ariana Afghan Airlines (FG) to Kabul

I thought you might enjoy a quick trip report on a recent flight to Kabul on Ariana Afghan Airlines (FG) from Dubai, and back. As you can immagine, it was a business trip... few people travel for pleasure to Afghanistan these days. Flying to Kabul, one's choices are basically UN-operated flights from Dubai or Islamabad, PIA from Islamabad, Mahan from Teheran and Ariana from either FRA, IST, Delhi, Sharjah and DBX, plus military flights, of course. Not really keen to take the long flight from FRA (via IST) on FG, even though I later heard from colleagues that it's quite bearable, I opted to fly from DUS to DBX on Emirates, connecting there to Ariana for the final stretch.

The fun starts with attempting to book flights on FG, Ariana is a IATA member and its schedules are listed on CRS systems, however my travel agent was unable to book the ticket. So he made a reservation with the gsa in DBX and asked me to purchase the ticket locally. So, after arriving in DBX at midnight, I had a pleasant night at the Residence by Le Meriedien, and on the next morning started by quest for the elusive FG gsa office (Elsa Travel). I finally found the dingy office on airport road, forked over the 360 US$ (r/t) and was pleasantly surprised to see that my name was indeed written on a long list with the reservations for next days' flight. I received a hand-written ticket (yeah, you don't see those very often today!) and was informed that I would have to make my return reservation in Kabul, as FG lacks a computer reservation system and all reservations are done manually, using a big book at each station.

On the next morning, the taxi dropped me at DXB's Terminal Two. This terminal, which is mainly used for charter flights to Iran and the CIS, was pretty empty at six am. It's across the runway from the more modern Terminal One, which is used by most European and Asian airlines. Check-in was pretty straightforward with handling done by the airport company. The boarding passes showed 'open seating', a feature of seemingly all FG flights. After waiting for about sixty minutes at the gate, we were bussed to our plane, one of FG's vintage B727s. While the situations is fluid, it seems that FG's post-war fleet currently consists of two B727s and one A300, donated by Air India, which operates the long-haul flight to FRA and IST, as well as VIP charters. The B727s operate domestic flights, as well as the services to the UAE. Another two Airbus planes are in the process of being delivered to FG.

The interior of the plane looked pretty worn and the aircraft had certainly seen service with Ariana before the Taliban period, as it featured tourisms posters (printed in Austria), advertising tours to 'historic Afghanistan'... Our flight was about 70% full, which made open seating more bearable, predominantly Afghanis and businesspeople from the UAE, with a few Western journalists and NGO people as well. Most internationals working in Kabul seem to use the UN flight, which is actually operated by South African charter operator AirQuarius and utilizes a F28, however the UN charges twice as much as Ariana and furthermore tends to be fully booked...

I had no high expectations in terms of on-board service and was therefore pleasantly surprised when a hot breakfast was being served by the flights attendants. Breakfast consisted of the usual airline omlette, a few pieces of kebab, some fruit (I think) and the usual stale bread. Nothing to rave about, but I had expected no meal service at all during this 2.5 hour flight. The drink selection consisted of soft drinks, tea and coffee, and flight attendants were happy to re-fill my coffee outside of the routine beverage services through the cabin. A note on the crew, the flight seemed to be staffed exclusively by Afghanis, with a number of women serving as flight attendants. They wore a nice uniform, reminiscent of the one used by Emirates, but predominantly in blue colors. The cabin crew spoke limited English but enough to communicate effortlessly with passengers.

Arina provides no on-board entertainment, but the stunning views of Iran and later on Afghanistan made more than up for the lack of audio or video equipment. Afghanistan offers strikingly beautiful vistas from above with dramatic mountain peaks raising through the clouds.

Arriving at Kabul airport, the scars of the war are still very visible, the plane taxied along a virtual scrapyards of derelict civilian and combat planes, before stopping near the terminal building. After disembarking using the rear stairs, passengers walked the 500 meters to the terminal building, passing the remaining operational FG fleet, some UN charters and an Air Holland plane, which probably was operating a refugee repatriation flight for IOM. A spotters heaven, I took copious pictures of the scenery...

Immigration was a zoo, with long chaotic lines, but after filling out the correct piece of paper and finding the right lane, things were smooth enough. Unlike some other countries there was no need to grease palms in order to be allowed in. The waiting period at the one baggage belt was considerable, but finally my luggage arrived and I was off to the Interconti hotel.

The return segment will follow shortly...

[This message has been edited by Arnur (edited 01-09-2003).]

Arnur, thanks for posting your interesting experience. Please add some impressions from your stay in Kabul, too. I'm looking forward to read the return, too.

Very interesting to read about Ariana. I think you are the first Flyertalker who flew them after 9/11 so I am really looking forward to the next part!

Tim

Upon popular demand here a few impressions of Kabul: having worked in a number of post-conflict countries, Afghanistan's capital is clearly among the worst places I have been to. Parts of the city are in ruins, not the result of the recent campaign, but rather of Mujaheddin infighting in the period 1992-1995. The presence of ISAF is comparatively low-profile, compared with other countries (i.e. in the Balkans) one sees few peacekeepers on the street, a fact compensated by the high-profile presence of Afghan police and military, operating frequent road blocks through the city.

The security situation remains precarious, with two serious attacks on ISAF and American soldiers during my stay, as well as a fatal German helicopter crash. The water and electricity supply is quite erratic, which made for some rather dark days in my hotel room. Shops, however, are full with imported goods and one can certainly buy just about everything easily. There are a few restaurants now serving (mostly) the international community, including a pretty decent italian one.

My hotel - the Interconti - was opened in the 1960s during the royal period. The registration form still offered 'Pan Am' as a payment option... The hotel obviously had seen better days, but it's still the best option in winter for short-timers. Most long-term residents live in 'guest houses', converted private homes. However, the hotel had at least an emergency generator, and some rooms even featured satelite tv (not mine...). At 65 US$ per night, it was ok though, they were doing a booming business and could have charged more. One of the few internet cafe in Afghanistan operates from the premises of the hotel as well.

Food in the hotel was ok, if not inspiring, and evening entertainment options were pretty limited, but hey, I went there for work. Alcohol, while not illegal, is difficult to get and is being frowned upon. The traces of Taliban rule are still pretty visible, even though the first cinema and theater has re-opened in Kabul. Most women still wear the burqua and all cover their head in some form, including foreigners working in the city.

Stay tuned for my return trip with Ariana!

This is highly interesting. Thanks for posting this.

I assume you need a visa to go to Afghanistan. What are the requirements? Can you get a "tourist visa"?

Also, is it safe to walk the streets in Kabul (except the attacks you mentioned, of course), I mean, are people friendly towards Westeners? And can you go outside Kabul or do you need special permits?

Not that I have much desire to go to Kabul anytime soon, but I am just curious how "normal" the situation is getting over there.

Very interesting. Any chance you could post some Ariana exterior/interior pictures?

reisevergnuegen:

Yes, one needs a visa to visit Afghanistan. Not really difficult to get, one basically needs a letter from some organization outlining the reasons for one's visit, pictures and 30 Euro. The concept of tourist visa seems unknown for the time being. No permits are needed to venture outside of Kabul, however the security situation is more volatile outside of the capital. Walking the streets seemed safe enough (we certainly did it), however there are many beggars to fend off. Attitude towards foreigners is very mixed, Afghanistan is a deeply Muslim country and not everybody welcomes the massive presence of the international community, plus there's a widespread feeling the promised aid is not coming forward.

tvl4free:

I could post some external views of FG aircraft, plus vistas of Kabul airport, however I'm not entirely sure how to do this using Flyertalk.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Arnur:
FG's post-war fleet currently consists of two B727s and one A300, donated by Air India, which operates the long-haul flight to FRA and IST, as well as VIP charters. The B727s operate domestic flights, as well as the services to the UAE. Another two Airbus planes are in the process of being delivered to FG.</font>

Ariana has actually boosted their fleet considerably in the last few months. In addition to their pre-Taliban 727 (YA-FAY), they have acquired 2 ex-American Airlines aircraft (YA-FAM formerly N861AA and YA-FAS formerly N876AA). As you mentioned, Air India is also donating 3 A300B4s. Of these, YA-BAB (formerly VT-EHO) is running the scheduled services in a 2-class (J16, Y216)configuration while YA-BAC (formerly VT-EHQ) is configured in an all-coach (Y260) configuration for Hajj flights. The third aircraft YA-BAA (formerly VT-EHN) is currently in San Antonio undergoing a C-check before delivery to Kabul later this month in the Y260 configuration.

All Ariana pilots and FAs are currently being trained (http://www.airindia.com/news/ArianaEmployees.htm) at Air India's training center in BOM. Air India has also "loaned" crew to Ariana on temporary assignment while their own crew are undergoing training.

And here comes the return flight to Dubai:

Again, the fun started when I went to the Ariana office, which was conveniently located in my hotel, to re-confirm my return flight. There was, of course, no reservation for me, and no open seats on Dec 21st flight, which would bring me back home in time for xmas. They offered me a flight back to Sharjah, which is just a 10' drive from Dubai, on the 19th, which would have been problematic with my work schedule. About a week later, and after pulling some strings, I'm standing at the airport on the 21st.

Kabul's terminal building is dark and dingy, but has notably improved since the war, as it has now windows again. There are two check-in counters, one processing our flight to Dubai and the other processing a UN-charter to Islamabad (AirQuarius again). Check-in is reasonably smooth, with emigration being chaotic. We receive a paper boarding pass with flight info, name or seat assignment.

Unfortunately, Kabul airport has no concessions of any sort, hence no early morning coffee. However, they do have an open viewing area on the top of the passenger building, where I spent quite some time taking pictures and viewing the unusal traffic. Visitors included the UN-flight operating a F28, the usual two FG B727s, a Beech 1900 operating for the ICRC, an AN 124 unloading military equipment and the ill-fated CH-56 German army helicopter, which would crash later on that day, killing all seven crew.

Boarding was chaotic and the departure of the flight delayed by some 40', but nobody complained as this was our best hope of getting out of Kabul in time for the festive season. The flight was booked solid, including what they call first class. Yes, there was a premium class on Ariana, a few rows in front of the plane. I did not really see enough to comment on whether seats or service was any different.

I had my doubt about Kabul catering and unfortunately they were justified. Unlike on flights in the US, there was hot food, and actually plenty of it. It was just pretty horrible... In this context, it's advisable to avoid meat whenever possible in Afghanistan and Ariana was no exception. Lunch came on tray and consisted of two kinds of rice, some unknown vegetable and mystery meat. Even the 'naan' bread, which is usually the highlight of eating in Afghanistan, tasted funny. Well, too bad, one doesn't travel on FG for the service or the frequent flyer miles... I'm not a picky eater, but I returned most of my food untouched. Drink service was similar to the flight to Kabul - soft drinks (sprite, I think), coffee and tea.

Arrival in Dubai was smooth, nice view of the UAE on landing. There were long lines at immigration in Terminal Two, something I had noticed when coming in from DUS ten days earlier in Terminal One as well. Quite surprising given the fact that DBX usually work fairly well.

One annoying thing is than there seems to be no way to transfer between the termininals airside. That means, one need to clear immigration, collect luggage, take a taxi to the side of the airfield, and check-in again. Plus, many nationalities need a visum of this, as my Slovenian colleague had to learn the hard way, when she was refused entry into the UAE. We sorted it out finally, but it was annoying.

I had a nice afternoon in Dubai, and flew back to DUS on Emirates in business class the next day. But that's another story...

Now there's a trip report you don't read every day! Arnur, thanks for sharing http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Thanks Arnur for the interesting trip report. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

I too would love to see your photos.

This was definitely one of the MOST interesting reports I have read on Flyertalk! Thanks for sharing! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

Great trip report... pretty interesting to see that despite the war and the overall state of the country, it's somehow business as “usual”.

Also glad to see that things are starting to get back to a certain normality: bad airline food http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Great trip report!

Coming from Bonn, I'm going to guess that you work for T-Mobil? I hope someone gets in and provides good GSM there. The country needs it!

stimpy:

Nope, I don't work for T-Mobile. In fact, the country has a operational GSM system, which surprised me quite a bit. Coverage is limited to Kabul and there's currently no roaming, but the system works and calls to Germany were 0.56 US$ / minute, which I found pretty reasonable.

Another hearty thanks for your most unusual trip report. Lots of interesting factoids ... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

Great trip report! Very interesting, indeed! Hot meal service on a 2.5 hour flight, in Y? Never see that in the US!!!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by FlyingTexan:
Hot meal service on a 2.5 hour flight, in Y? Never see that in the US!!!</font>

Right, but then again the U.S. isn't Afghanistan, is it? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif



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airOli (http://www.olimade.com/airoli), the Swiss Air Line. ;)

Great trip report,,I flew Ariana in 1974 to Kabul...seems to be the same 727's are in use. I do have photos of the exterior..just got to find them. I stayed at the Mustafa Hotel on Chicken Street..I wonder if that is still open?
Really a detailed report..thanks so much. I truly enjoyed my stays in Mazar-i-Sharif as well.

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MRKEY

Fascinating! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

Interesting report. Thanks for sharing. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I too flew Ariana to Kabul from Dubai, in March of 2002. My trip started at LAX, overnighted in London, on to Dubai where we slept for 3 hours before boarding the flight for Kabul. Mostly Russian businessmen, returning Afghans going to help, reporters, aid workers, etc. I went as part of an aid group on a preliminary trip checking out the status of women and girls in post-Taliban Afghanistan. We were supposed to have our names on a list, but when we arrived, no such luck. However, because UAE was forcibly? repatriating a large group of Afghan men, we were given priority, paid our $400 one way fare, US cash only and after watching one harried young clerk painstakingly write out the tickets, we were relieved to have them in hand. Obviously, he was having trouble writing in English. He certainly did better than I would have in Dari. The plane was actually quite full, but all were accomodated. They let a few men and all of us women board the plane first. There was no formal boarding process as Arnur said. Food was pretty decent, considering. Our biggest complaint was all the businessmen who watched the no smoking light come on and promptly lit up. We asked several men around us to please put out their cigarettes, which they did (one happened to be the President of Ariana Airlines.) We got tired of asking and soon gave up, grateful that the flight wasn't terribly long. When they announced we had crossed over into Afghan airspace, many applauded and there were lots of cameras flashing. Arrival at the dark airport was a bit of a free for all. Getting through immigration took about 45 minutes. Getting our bags in the dark took another 45. Luckily, someone was there to meet us at the airport. Also stayed at the formerly posh Intercontinental. No heat, no ceilings, no toilet seat, no peepholes in some rooms, lots of bullet holes. Hot buckets of water at night provided bathing opportunities. Food in the hotel was expensive, but decent. At the time, it was $60/night for a room. Prices have gone up. The elevators were not working, but we had lighting in the rooms and a sat. phone available for $2/min. Good to know they have internet service now. One caution to any woman traveling in the area. One of the shop clerks on Chicken Street (tourist shop street) tried to cop a feel during a transaction when I was buying scarves, just after a male friend ducked out to check out another shop. Totally unexpected and uncharacteristic of any of the other treatment that we experienced while in Kabul. Most men were very respectful. Upon leaving, you had to reconfirm tickets at the Ariana office and get an exit visa from the foreign ministry. Almost missed our flight out because we weren't aware of this. They may have changed this since then, but check. Also, when leaving the airport, it was so dark, I had to use a flashlight to open the combination lock to my suitcase when they wanted to check it. The women had to go into a separate room where they thoroughly checked us out, patted us down (women attendants) while the men went through no such check.

The country needs a lot of reconstruction help from the years of wars there that the US participated in and I hope Bush comes through with more aid and peacekeeping assistance expansion for the whole country.