As you guys know, I’m a huge fan of seeking out routes that others may find to be a bit unusual. For example, looking at New York JFK alone, I’d say my three most “unusual” flights out of the airport have been on AZAL Azerbaijan to Baku, on Uzbekistan Airways to Tashkent, and on Pakistan Airlines from Manchester.
PIA canceled their flight from Manchester a while back, and a few weeks back it looked like yet another one of these routes would be canceled.
In mid-June I wrote about how Azerbaijan Airlines stopped taking reservations for their Baku to New York flight as of September 30, 2019. They completely zeroed out flights as of that date, so since this was their only fight to the US, it also meant they were cutting US flights altogether. The airline had only launched the route in November 2015.
Well, there’s some good news on that front — several weeks later, AZAL Azerbaijan has reopened reservations for their New York flights, so the airline isn’t cutting the route after all.
The route will continue to operate 2x weekly with the following schedule on Saturdays and Mondays:
J2101 Baku to New York departing 5:00AM arriving 9:30AM
J2102 New York to Baku departing 11:30AM arriving 6:30AM (+1 day)
On their Facebook page, the airline describes the decision to maintain the flights as follows:
As a result of the optimization of the fleet’s technical capabilities and in accordance with the numerous wishes of passengers, Azerbaijan Airlines decided not to suspend flights from Baku to New York for another year.
Thus, direct flights from Baku to New York will be continued within the framework of the winter schedule of the national air carrier of Azerbaijan.
Baku-New York flights to JFK airport will be continued within the framework of both the winter schedule for 2019/2020 and the summer schedule for 2020.
We’ll see whether the route is maintained beyond the summer 2020 schedule…
Azerbaijan Airlines 787 business class
Azerbaijan Airlines 787 premium economy
One of the things that made this flight interesting was that for a long time the country granted special visa privileges to visitors taking this flight. While you otherwise needed to arrange a visa through a consulate, taking this flight allowed you to get a visa on arrival in Baku. Since my visit a few years ago the country has eased entry requirements so this is no longer the case, though I did always find that to be interesting.
Baku, Azerbaijan
If you’re curious what this very interesting flight is like, read my review of Azerbaijan’s 787 business class from New York to Baku.
I’m happy that we’ll continue to see one of the coolest liveries out there at JFK beyond September…
Agreed, great livery. Except for that font.
I am not overly surprised here. I was in Baku in June and there was a delegation from the US State department visiting and staying at the JW Marriott. I overheard a lot of their conversations. Much around promoting Azerbaijan as a tourist destination and trying to increase trade (think oil) and improving other relationships w/ the country. Not overly surprised since there's an empty Trump Tower sitting finished, but under scaffolding in Baku
The departure on both ends could be better. 0500 is bad. They should leave like at 0200 or so like Emirates does out of DXB. Or instead have a flight leaving Baku at 1500 and arriving at JFK at 1900. A night departure out of JFK would be better.
smh another airline gone from jfk
@aaron, nice use of the comma though
@aaron, no. That makes no sense and you know it.
MC, there are no others that fly nonstop.
I need to fly to Baku in October. What other airlines fly this route non-stop?
@K - There is a possibility he could be using someone else’s opinion, in which case, it helps to clarify whose opinion it actually is.
@Ric - the seat is actually fairly common, used by (Azal and) eg TK, LO, CA, AI. I love that seat and TKs finishes are the best.
It is a VERY cool livery.
So are there any other direct flights to the US from that part of the world?
You don’t have to say “in my opinion”. You’re writing the article. It’s also a blog. We understand and it is implied it’s your opinion.
If PIA had a great product, then I know they would be able to make New York work. Manchester also has a big Pakistani population. The fact that people kept flying them so long with such a dated product means something. Imagine how much they could grow by just having a decent product, let alone world class. People value nonstops and less travel time, especially for Pakistanis coming from America (which takes at least 18 hours with a stop).
Is it me or does their business class hard product look almost exactly like Turkish Airlines business class 777 ?
"As is the case with many airlines operating to New York, the route just seems to have not been as profitable as the airline had hoped".
-Yeah, no. NY is the most lucrative O&D market in the US and among the top in the world, in spite of challenging airports, airspace, and operations. All that being said, airlines aren't lining up to pull out of the NY market, unless they are vanity routes, and...
"As is the case with many airlines operating to New York, the route just seems to have not been as profitable as the airline had hoped".
-Yeah, no. NY is the most lucrative O&D market in the US and among the top in the world, in spite of challenging airports, airspace, and operations. All that being said, airlines aren't lining up to pull out of the NY market, unless they are vanity routes, and this one likely fit the bill. 2 x week service means less business traffic and it's likely TK and LH probably have that sector of the market covered. The rest is VFR and the 5AM departure from Baku can't be good. The traffic was likely just not there, beyond VFR.
I took this flight round trip in business class in February of 2016 and found it excellent, other than the IFE which was almost non-existent. The meal service consisted of a seemingly endless offering of small plates and the service itself was professional if a bit distant (the FAs spoke passable English but there was clearly a language barrier). Both of the flights I was on appeared full in coach, and about half-full in business....
I took this flight round trip in business class in February of 2016 and found it excellent, other than the IFE which was almost non-existent. The meal service consisted of a seemingly endless offering of small plates and the service itself was professional if a bit distant (the FAs spoke passable English but there was clearly a language barrier). Both of the flights I was on appeared full in coach, and about half-full in business. But the coach fares were also very low so the load factor is hardly an indicator of whether the flight was financially viable. Business was about $2500 r/t which was reasonable for a 12-hour flight and MUCH less than any connecting service such as LH. The new airport in Baku is very impressive and generally easy to navigate, and the city itself is fascinating with great food and great history. So it's too bad we're losing this direct connection to such an interesting and important part of the world.
An O/D flight with an outbound departure time of 5:00am lmmmmmaooooo
Too late for UA. Ethiopian Airlines Launches a new service from JFK. This is in addition to the Newark flight.
Well, One airlines loss another airlines gain.
after all , the New York market is not as bad as it seems,
Another JFK slot opening up. Do you hear that UA? :-) And not a HORRID time.
But how will Miss Azerbaijan discreetly spend time with the POTUS now?