seaskybound

Would like the forums wisdom of getting to Astana (TSE) with BA/OW seems no OW flight enters Kazakhstan.

Initial searches show fly to IST on BA and transfer to another airline.

aksai oiler

Depends where you are flying from. If LHR, then Air Astana is the only choice, the flight is direct from T4, and the service is very acceptable.. I would not recommend TK, unless you want a very long haul.

corporate-wage-slave

BA did fly to Almaty until a few months, one of the "rendition routes" that it inherited from BMI. But the price of oil has made it non viable and the service stopped in April 2016.

florens

Maybe S7 to ALA?

beardedgeologist

Also assuming you are coming from LHR (since you asked in BA forum): LHR - TSE is already going to take you around 6.5 hours direct, so going via IST and potentially re-checking luggage is going to add a load of hassle and time.

Air Astana service is pretty good, and would be my first choice.

If for some reason you desire to go the maximum distance you can on OW services, you could potentially go via one of AMS, FRA, VIE (Seasonal), KBP, DXB, AUH and connect onto Air Astana, on various days of the week.

Greenpen

Choice of airline would depend on class of travel and your interest in frequent flyer schemes.

I would not fly Austrian as their VIE to TSE flight is just like European J with nasty, thin, cramped seats. Although the food is reasonably good. Turkish can give you a flat bed between LHR and IST but not all aeroplanes have them. Again, the TK J from IST to TSE is essentially Inter-Europe J with seating nearly as tight as their Y. The food is good though. LH gives you a flat bed from FRA to TSE and inter-Europe J to LHR. KC has direct flights and their J is very good, rather old fashioned both in service and food but certainly a pleasant way to travel. KC. Planes are generally modern and well kept. PS used to be popular but the war with Russia has affected them and many will not fly with them now. Their J is inter-Europe type seating. Good service and reasonable food in J but I am told that the Y product is poor; poor food and cramped seating designed for midgets! Very cheap before and even cheaper now though!

The direct flights by KC have been competitively priced as I think they are trying to take business from the other carriers. This has brought down the prices on LH and TK. OS has always been cheaper but this is because their J is not really J apart from the food.

I used to fly regularly to Astana and chose *A. This propelled me to gold in their scheme and through A3 (Aegean) I have maintained it with much less flying than I used to. Now I would chose LH because of the frequent flyer programme. You can't do much with Nomad Club points and they disappear after two years (might be three). They have limited routes and taxes are high.

Having said that, non-flying fans I know who use the route now chose the direct KC flights.

No experience with route through Moscow and via AUH is rather a long way round.

aksai oiler

CWS, I flew on the BA flight to ALA over 10 times prior to it being axed for the third time. It was very frequently, and the oil crisis had nothing to do with it, in my opinion, very under utilised compared to LH and KL. In only one of those 10 return rotations, I saw the flight full, due to a group of squaddies coming back from an exercise in Kazakhstan. On average, the flight had 25 pax in total, saying this the majority were in J and W, with Y being almost completely empty. I understood from the crew, the flight did a great cargo trade. Shame it's gone, as it was a great flight for me personally.

DrBernardo

Ah yes, used to be BA mainline, but poor frequency and BA missed quite a few tricks with local sales. Then to BMED, but (obviously) with smaller planes and a stop en-route. Given the main competition from *A, the service didn't get that much care and attention under BMI. And then back to BA and curtains for the final time...