Part 19: Irkutsk Airport (IKT) and the domestic business class lounge

I asked the kind girls at the reception to call me a taxi and before I knew a modern car awaited me to drive me to Irkutsk Airport, which is just a few kilometres (and a couple of Euros) away from the city centre. The airport consists of an old-fashioned Soviet international terminal and a rather more modern looking glass terminal for domestic operations, which at Irkutsk are the bulk of the daily traffic.


The international terminal of Irkutsk Airport

I arrived exactly at T-2 but there was no sign of any check-in desk open for my flight, let alone one being announced for my flight. As I could not manage to check-in online I had no choice but to wait. About one-and-a-half hours before the flight did I suddenly spot a tiny Aeroflot sign behind three check-in desks and a huge queue – apparently locals did know where to queue suddenly as the check-in desks were not announced at any monitor whatsoever. Annoyingly, there was no business class check-in desk of any sort so I had to queue among the masses.


Irkutsk Airport interior

After what seemed like an eternal wait queueing behind Russians checking it their entire household it was finally my turn. The check-in agent spoke good English for a Russian provincial airport and within minutes I had my boarding pass. I followed the signs which read something like “lounge” or “VIP” and ended up in a staircase seemingly leading to airport offices. After encountering an airport worker I was finally showed the way to the right floor, where there was a separate security check for VIP passengers only which feeds directly into the business class lounge. No queues whatsoever here fortunately – it really felt like a scanner placed in a forgotten airport corridor.

(For the record, I read afterwards a vague internet report that there is a separate VIP entrance/check-in desk – which would make sense. Although I can't confirm this, obviously!)

The lounge itself is nothing to write home about and I would not recommend getting early to the airport for it. Seating was comfortable enough however, internet relatively fast and toilets clean, so I guess it beats waiting at the boarding gate. There was a small staffed bar where you could get food and refreshments – although I have no idea if all is actually complimentary (which oddly is not always the case in business lounges at provincial ex-USSR airports). I just ordered a coffee and a bottle of mineral water, both of which were free.






Domestic business class lounge at Irkutsk Airport

I was the second person when I arrived in the lounge, and it filled up relatively quickly to about 15 passengers – all for the Aeroflot Moscow flight only (the lounge is shared by other domestic airlines as well). It never felt overly crowded however and time passed by relatively fast.

A woman opened the door to the freezing tarmac and shouted something in Russian to which I could only understand the words “Aeroflot” and “Moskva” - boarding time for our flight it seemed! Like on arrival, a special bus for business class passengers and FF elites was waiting for us outside the door. Again great planespotting opportunities from the bus!









And after a ten-minute ride finally our Boeing 737 came in sight which would bring us to Moscow.



To my surprise there were however quite some passengers waiting to board – it turned out that about half to three quarters of all economy passengers had already arrived before us in buses. Not that for me today it was such a big deal – but I can imagine when flying economy you want your priority boarding to be taken seriously and not having all the overhead luggage space being stolen in front of you. It's one thing to definitely take into account when visiting this lounge.

Conclusion: The CDG La Premiere Lounge it is not, but for a Russian provincial airport Irkutsk Airport is not bad at all. Quiet and clean lounge, VIP security line, good coffee, separate bus for business class passengers.

Big cons: weird signage as it took me a while to find the way to the lounge/VIP security line – and of course no priority boarding enforced at all. It's perfectly acceptable, but with the airport so close to the city centre there is no need heading to it early whatsoever – you won't miss much.

Next up: Aeroflot domestic business class Irkutsk-Moscow