For the next sector ofmy Four Seasons Yacht via Turkmenistan and Saudi Arabia adventure, I flewTurkmenistan Airlines Boeing 737-800 business classon the 3hr5min flight from Ashgabat (ASB) to Delhi (DEL).
Took me a while to discover the falcon, but when I finally did it I realized it looked cool.
Strange that while they fly to Bangkok you can't book Bangkok to Frankfurt on their website. That would have been a fun way to go home.
Same, I tried searching for it but it never shows up as one continuous leg. That would be an interesting, cost-effective flight.
@ Nikojas -- The Frankfurt flight is currently operating once per week, and there are quite a few city pairs in the network that just don't "line up" for connections, unfortunately. It seems like there's some room for optimization there.
It may be an unfounded prejudice on my part, but now that you have two children, isn’t it risky to try somewhat “exotic” airlines such as Turkmenistan Airlines?
Turkmenistan isn't North Korea and it's not as if he was flying Air Koryo. Your concern is understandable, but life is risk, and everyone's appetite for risk is different (obviously); that said it doesn't seem to be a high-risk endeavor to try out Turkmenistan Airlines.
@ McCaron -- I'm curious what risk you think there is? Turkmenistan Airlines might be quirky and relatively unknown, but it has a spotless safety record, and has never had a fatal accident.
More broadly, I've shared my approach to considering airline safety in this post:
https://onemileatatime.com/insights/airline-safety/
Essentially, even the least safe airline in the world is way safer than getting in any car, so it's not something I put too much thought into (even when being someone who has a family, values life, etc.).
Maybe this is a controversial take, but I'll also say that I actually have a high level of faith in pilot abilities at these kinds of airlines, from countries with dictators, huge military, etc. They have their pick of endless great military pilots.
You had me at 'peach juice'... nice views on-route; often flying at night to/from India so never get to see the mountains (...oh, those poor ole Jet Airways 777s.)
Those Jet 77Ws are now ex-Jet, having been sold to Challenge Group (Cargo), alongwith 3 in Mumbai. 1 of Mumbai has already flown to Tel Aviv for P2F conversion. Expect the others to join once they are reactivated, and based on the slot availability.
Interesting they served cherries and not melons. The melon is Turkmenistan's national fruit.
Great review. More hyped up than ever to somehow route via Turkmenistan. Condolences on having to visit Delhi.
At least the seats are way better than any European Business Class.
Fun review, thanks!
@Lucky, good review. Is there a reason why the two Turkmenistan Airlines flights don't have star reviews? You gave 4 stars to LH, 4 stars to the FRA T3 lounge, and 3.5 to the ASB lounge, but nothing for the flights.
@ Tennen -- Excellent question, you're very observant. Basically, that little rating widget at the top of reviews requires me to select an airline from a dropdown list, as it can't be entered manually. Turkmenistan Airlines isn't on there, and it's not something we can directly update, though we're working with our partners to get it fixed. Once that's complete, the widget will appear here. But sadly the widget won't show without the airline selected, and the airline can't be entered manually. Thanks for your patience!
I miss overhead monitors
It is quite a surprise (just going on the menu picture), that for a route to Delhi/India, they did not seem to have a vegetarian option. Then again, based on the pax you described, it might be more catering to traffic from Turkmen visitors to and back from India than other way around.
When I went to Turkmenistan I left via this flight in Y. Unlike J, the seats had absolutely no padding and I could feel the seat frame push against my back. The flight was full, and my impression is that a lot of Turkmen people travel to India for medical treatment (which may explain the inflight emergency).
Absolutely 0 Indian people on the flight. Apparently it’s popular for UK-India traffic when it lines up for a connection with their LGW flight (mine didn’t), however.
According to my tour guide, Turkmen people pay some ridiculously low price for tickets (he said he paid $100 for a flight to Vietnam).
Miss the old-school monitors - - I half expected the Office to be playing when I saw the image. Better flight than the 777 experience, for sure.
Seeing those Jet Airways 777s reminds me of flying Jet LHR - DEL economy in 2015; never before or since have I had so much legroom as there. It was unreal. On a row of three, sitting by the window, you could just walk straight past the other two people with them only slightly having to moving their legs, and it wasn't even an exit row.