Air Astana Review (Economy Class)

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Air Astana is an airline with hubs in Kazakhstan's Almaty and Astana. The airline has won a number of Skytrax awards and is rumored to be the next candidate for a Star Alliance membership.

Since 2012, Air Astana has been rateda 4 star carrier by Skytrax and remains the only airline in Eastern Europe and the CIS to achieve this. Any Air Astana review is usually glowing, so I was curious to try it out.

The airline currently runs a limited partnership with Lufthansa Miles & More - codesharing on the Kazakhstan - Europe routes.

I flew three segments with the airline: Bishkek-Almaty, Almaty-Astana, Astana-Novosibirsk. Each sector had a different aircraft: Airbus A320, Boeing 757-200 and an Embraer E190.


All aircraft were in fantastic condition - the 757-200 seemed to have gone through an extensive interior retrofit. The shortest sector (Bishkek to Almaty, at just 120 miles) used the biggest aircraft (B757-200).

The cabin for each flight was super clean and the flight attendants were friendly, professional and very good at spoken English.




The interior of each plane was brand new and the flight from Bishkek even featured drinks service in economy BEFORE takeoff. Flight attendants also served English language and Russian newspapers.

With the exception of Astana, no airport in this country has a business lounge to speak of. There are also, therefore, no Priority Pass lounges.


Each flight was perfectly on time. The equipment was ready and the crew were highly professional.

The whole ticket cost less than $150 for all 3 flightsand that was with one piece of luggage free on each segment.

I found Air Astana a surprisingly great experience - ahead of most US airlines. A very efficient operation, friendly flight attendants and brand new planes. What else can you ask for, for $50 per flight?

If you come out to this part of the world, try to fly with Air Astana.

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