- Introduction: Four Seasons Yacht Via Turkmenistan & Saudi Arabia
- Review: Lufthansa Allegris Business Class Boeing 787 (AUS-FRA)
- Review: Lufthansa Welcome Lounge Frankfurt Airport (FRA)
- Review: Priority Lounge Frankfurt Airport Terminal 3 (FRA)
- Review: Turkmenistan Airlines Business Class Boeing 777 (FRA-ASB)
- Review: Business Lounge Ashgabat Airport, Turkmenistan (ASB)
- Review: Turkmenistan Airlines Business Class Boeing 737 (ASB-DEL)
- Review: Encalm Xenia Lounge Delhi Airport (DEL)
- Review: Air India Maharaja Business Lounge Delhi Airport (DEL)
- Review: Air India Maharaja First Lounge Delhi Airport (DEL)
For the next sector of my Four Seasons Yacht via Turkmenistan and Saudi Arabia adventure, I flew Turkmenistan Airlines’ Boeing 737-800 business class on the 3hr5min flight from Ashgabat (ASB) to Delhi (DEL).
In the previous installment, I reviewed Turkmenistan Airlines’ Boeing 777-300ER business class, so it was nice to also see what the short haul product was like. With that in mind, I actually found this flight to be a bit more unusual and memorable — the flight was packed, the inflight meal was massive (and it took forever to serve), and I got (politely) told to stop taking pictures.
All-in-all, this was a pleasant flight, and as usual in this part of the world, the views for most of the flight were incredible, and I couldn’t help but just gaze out the window most of the way.
In this post:
How I booked my Turkmenistan Airlines business class ticket
Turkmenistan Airlines has no airline partnerships, so there’s no practical way to redeem points on the airline. Fortunately the carrier’s business class fares tend to be really reasonable. Specifically, I booked the following in business class for $1,010, which is hard to beat:
7/15 T5462 Frankfurt to Ashgabat departing 7:00PM arriving 4:00AM (+1 day)
7/16 T5533 Ashgabat to Delhi departing 6:30AM arriving 10:50AM
Turkmenistan Airlines business class lounge & boarding
In previous installments, I covered how Ashgabat Airport is among the strangest airports I’ve transited, and I’ve also reviewed the Business Lounge Ashgabat, which is unique.
My flight to Delhi was departing from gate 104, just a short walk from the lounge. Boarding for the flight was scheduled for 5:45AM, 45 minutes before departure. Boarding ended up starting 10 minutes behind schedule, with business class passengers being invited to board first.
Turkmenistan Airlines 737 business class cabin & seats
At the forward door I was greeted by the lead flight attendant, and turned right into the business class cabin. Turkmenistan Airlines’ 737s are configured with 160 seats, including 16 business class seats and 144 economy class seats.
Business class consists of four rows, in a 2-2 configuration. Think of these seats as being very similar to domestic first class within the United States, except with slightly better pitch. 
I was assigned seat 4A, the window seat on the left in the last row.
While Turkmenistan Airlines has Boeing’s latest interiors in terms of updated overhead bins and consoles, the cabin didn’t otherwise feel too modern. There were no seat back screens, and the seats were definitely “last generation” (which is probably a good thing, since so many new seats nowadays lack padding).
The tray table folded out from the far armrest, and needed to be flipped over to be fully used.
There was also a small drink tray underneath the center armrest, which could be folded out.
When it comes to in-seat connectivity, there were two AC power outlets underneath the center armrest, though there was nothing in the way of USB-A or USB-C charging.
Lastly, the plane had individual air nozzles at each seat, though that’s standard on 737s.
All-in-all, it’s a fairly nice cabin. I should also mention that while I made it through the entire previous flight and airport experience without being told not to take pictures (despite the airline and airport reportedly having rules against it), my luck ran out on this flight.
Within minutes of boarding, the lead flight attendant yelled “photos are not allowed” to me, all the way from the galley. Fortunately I had already taken most of my cabin pictures, so I was more strategic about pictures going forward.
Turkmenistan Airlines 737 business class entertainment
Turkmenistan Airlines doesn’t have seat back entertainment on its 737s, and also doesn’t have Wi-Fi. Instead, the primary inflight entertainment comes in the form of streaming entertainment, which you can then play on your own device.
There was a small selection of movies, TV shows, music, games, a map feature, etc. The selection was similar to what was available on the seat back on the 777, so it wasn’t a huge selection. As a result, I’d highly recommend bringing your own entertainment. 
The only other form of onboard entertainment is the overhead monitors that are lowered while inflight, which stream the map feature.
Turkmenistan Airlines business class amenities
Waiting at each seat upon boarding was a bottle of water, a small pillow, and a pair of slippers.
Later on in the boarding process, the lead flight attendant came around to offer pre-departure drinks, with the choice of peach juice, Coke, or sparkling water. Talk about an unusual trio of choices! I opted for the peach juice, which was tasty, as you’d expect.
Once airborne, the crew also came around to distribute blankets on request. I thought it was fun how all the blankets had different patterns on them.
All-in-all, that’s a good number of amenities for a fairly short flight!
Turkmenistan Airlines 737 departure from Ashgabat
The boarding process took quite some time, because on this flight, every single seat was taken (unlike my previous flight, which was quite empty). What I found interesting is that most of the passengers seemed to actually be local, based on them communicating with the crew in Turkmen.
For the first 45 minutes of boarding, I was the only passenger in business class. Then just shortly before the door closed, the other 15 business class seats filled up. Given that economy appeared to be oversold, I have to imagine that there were a lot of operational upgrades here.
Anyway, boarding wrapped up around 6:45AM, at which point the main cabin door closed. At 7AM we then began our pushback, with the beautiful 777 that had just flown me from Frankfurt parked next to us. As we pushed back, the safety video was screened.
We started our very short taxi at 7:05AM, and then at 7:10AM we were cleared for takeoff on runway 29R.
That takeoff roll gave a great view of the terminal — as you can see, the main part of the terminal is intended to look like a falcon. This really is quite the airport.
I also loved the views of the nearby maintenance facility, where there were a couple of Turkmenistan Airlines cargo Ilyushin Il-76s — swoon (not a political statement, of course… just an avgeek statement).
I very much enjoyed the views as we continued our climb out, as it was a clear morning. Central Asia just has such amazing landscape.
The seatbelt sign stayed on until around 20 minutes after takeoff. I was watching the map feature with great interest, and around 30 minutes after takeoff I couldn’t help but notice how we were starting a slow turn back toward Ashgabat.
At first I couldn’t help but wonder if we were diverting for some reason, but after a few minutes it became clear we were just in a holding pattern, which we were eventually released from. At that point we continued our journey to Delhi.
Just minutes later there was a medical emergency onboard, as they paged for a doctor. There was one seated in business class, and he headed to the back of the plane. That went on for quite some time, though fortunately that seemed to resolve itself.
Turkmenistan Airlines business class meal service
On this Turkmenistan Airlines business class flight, lunch was served enroute… yes, despite the fact that the flight was scheduled to depart at 6:30AM. This time around they had loaded a couple of menus, so the flight attendant would always present menus to the next two passengers to be served, while serving the current two passengers.
The menu listed both a breakfast and lunch, so my assumption was that breakfast would be served on this flight, but that was quickly corrected by the flight attendant. You can find the menu below.
Service began with warm towels being distributed, with very nice presentation, and a lovely scent.
Then below is the meal I was presented… ummm, wow! As I saw other people being served their meals, it just looked like a massive tray of paper and plastic to me, so I was curious what was going on, but it all made sense when it was served to me.
I removed all of the extra paper and plastic from the tray, which included three bags of snack mix, the cutlery set, butter, mayonnaise, salt, etc.
I must say, Turkmenistan Airlines deserves credit for its plentiful meal service, as this is quite the selection. For the main course, I had the beef stroganoff with rice and vegetables. That was served with a side salad (with feta, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes), some cold cuts, cheese, cherries, a blueberry yogurt, cake for dessert, a Mars bar, and two bread rolls.
While I wouldn’t say the food was particularly high quality, the airline deserves credit for the effort here, as this is much more substantial than I was expecting. 
At the conclusion of the meal, I also ordered a cup of black tea, which was served with lemon.
While beef stroganoff on a 6:30AM flight is a bit unusual, it’s not like my body knew what time it was anyway, so I had no complaints, minus the service flow (which I’ll cover below).
Turkmenistan Airlines 737 business class lavatory
Turkmenistan Airlines has a dedicated business class lavatory on its 737s, located at the front of the cabin, by the cockpit. The lavatory was pretty standard for a 737, and it was clean.
There were a few special amenities, like a cute little flower pot, plus some creams and refreshing wipes.
Turkmenistan Airlines business class service
The lead flight attendant was working the business class cabin on this Turkmenistan Airlines flight. She was rather charming, and did a good job. A couple of things stood out to me.
First of all — and this is minor — it was just impossible to understand any of her announcements. Her English wasn’t great in the first place, and then all the announcements were at such a low volume that she might as well not have said anything.
The bigger issue was the service flow. I felt like there were a lot of flight attendants on this flight (I kept seeing them come up for a variety of reasons), yet only the lead flight attendant worked business class. This just didn’t feel sufficient, given the pace of service.
I ended up being served my meal just 10 minutes before we started our descent, and that was also when I got my first drink. There wasn’t first a round of drinks, but instead, she went straight into the meal service. The issue is how long it took to serve the meal.
She served the cabin front to back, and it felt like it took an incredibly long time to prepare each meal. It was somewhere around 10 minutes between each meal being brought out. When you have 16 meals to serve, that certainly adds up.
It’s not like she was lazy… she was working hard. But something with the flow felt off, because you shouldn’t get your first drink along with your meal just shortly before the descent on a flight that lasts over three hours.
Turkmenistan Airlines 737 arrival in Delhi
At 10:10AM Delhi time the seatbelt sign was turned on, as we started our descent, and the crew prepared the cabin for landing. This included collecting all pillows and blankets. Our approach ended up being pretty drawn out, as we were landing into the northwest, meaning we had to fly past the airport, and then come back around.
At 10:45AM we had a smooth touchdown on runway 29R.
From there we had a 10-minute taxi to our arrival stand, where we pulled in at 10:55AM, five minutes behind schedule. The views on the taxi were great, particularly of the ex-Jet Airways 777s!
From there I had a long layover in Delhi, before flying Air India’s Boeing 777-300ER first class to Frankfurt (FRA).
Bottom line
Turkmenistan Airlines’ 737 business class is pleasant for a fairly short flight, with comfortable seats and extensive meal service.
However, as you’d expect from this strange airline, there are some quirks, including the limited streaming entertainment and lack of Wi-Fi. Also, while the meal served on the flight was large, it took forever to be served, and there was no drink service before that. So while it’s hardly going to sway anyone’s decision of whether or not to fly the airline, it would be nice if things were sped up a bit.
All-in-all, I had a more pleasant Turkmenistan Airlines experience than I was expecting, and given the price, I’d highly recommend it for someone looking for an adventure.
What’s your take on Turkmenistan Airlines’ 737 business class?
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.
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...
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).
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.
I miss overhead monitors
@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,...
@ 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!
Fun review, thanks!
At least the seats are way better than any European Business Class.
Great review. More hyped up than ever to somehow route via Turkmenistan. Condolences on having to visit Delhi.
Interesting they served cherries and not melons. The melon is Turkmenistan's national fruit.
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.
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?
What would "the risk" be?
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...
@ 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.
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.
Took me a while to discover the falcon, but when I finally did it I realized it looked cool.