Air Astana A320 Economy Class Review (Almaty-Tashkent)

The national carrier of Kazakhstan, Air Astana offers a great on-board product regardless of whether you’re flying Business or Economy Class. It’s a full-service carrier and a 4-Star Skytrax airline with a solid safety record.

I recently shared my experience flying Air Astana Business Class from Bangkok to Almaty. As I said in that review, Air Astana is my favourite airline and that was a truly excellent flight.

After staying a few days in Almaty, my next stop was the wonderful city of Tashkent in neighbouring Uzbekistan. To get there, I flew Air Astana in Economy Class. This review covers the Air Astana Airbus A320neo Economy experience from Almaty to Tashkent.

Flight Details

Flight number	KC127
Route	Almaty (ALA) to Tashkent (TAS)
Aircraft type	Airbus A320neo
Class of travel	Economy
Seat number	42A
On-time performance	We arrived on time
Star rating

The route

Flight Cost

I paid USD219 (~AU$334) for a return Economy ticket from Almaty to Tashkent.

Interestingly, I was offered a Business Class upgrade when checking in for my flight at Almaty Airport. The price offered was KZT43,000 (~AU$145) but I declined as it was only a relatively short flight. Air Astana also offers the option to bid for an upgrade up to 7 hours before the flight using its MyUPGRADE platform.

Airport Experience

Although I find Air Astana’s on-board service great, I unfortunately can’t use the same word to describe the airport experience in Almaty. It’s not the airline’s fault – the airport is currently operating at over three times its intended capacity. The small size does make it very easy to navigate, though!

My ticket was checked by an official before I could enter the international check-in area at Almaty Airport. There was then only a short queue to check in at the Air Astana counters.

After clearing immigration and security, departing passengers get dumped in the international departures area pictured below:

That is pretty much the entire international departure terminal at Almaty Airport. Luckily, construction is well underway on a new international terminal which should open next year. That will greatly improve the airport experience in Almaty!

Like most airlines, Air Astana doesn’t provide lounge access to its Economy passengers (unless you have Nomad Club status). But I was able to use the third-party “Business Lounge” thanks to my Priority Pass card.

Ironically, a Priority Pass membership actually gets you more lounge benefits in Almaty than a Business Class ticket! That’s because, if you’re entering with a Business Class boarding pass, there is no food, drinks or any other amenities included with your lounge visit. But if you enter the lounge using Priority Pass, you receive a voucher to get a meal from the nearby Alaport Cafe.

There are three set menus that Priority Pass members can choose from, and alcoholic drinks are included. (I didn’t partake as it was around 11 o’clock in the morning.)

This was the only outside food that the lounge operator allows guests to bring into the lounge. Anything else needs to be bought directly from the lounge staff, and there are laminated menus with prices on every table. A Snickers bar costs around AU$10.

There are currently only three aerobridges at Almaty Airport. They were all occupied with other planes, so our flight – like many – boarded through a bus gate on the ground floor.

After a warm bus ride out to the plane, we boarded via stairs. An official checked everyone’s boarding passes at the bottom of the stairs.

The Hard Product

On board, Air Astana’s Airbus A320neo was modern and clean, with very pleasant blue mood lighting.

The leather Economy Class seats are set out in a typical 3-3 configuration, and the legroom is quite reasonable. There are also adjustable headrests and personal TV entertainment screens at every seat.

The in-flight entertainment system had more than enough Kazakh and international content, including music, movies, TV shows and games, to keep me occupied for the one and a half hour flight. The only thing that’s really missing is Wi-Fi.

The Soft Product

Every passenger in Economy Class received a complimentary snack box and a bottle of water. The crew also offered complimentary tea, coffee and other drinks from the trolley.

Inside the snack box was a cream cheese and pickle sandwich with a chocolate bar.

I’ve previously been served hot meals on short Air Astana Economy Class flights, but that was before the pandemic. This snack box seems to be the new standard in Economy on shorter flights, which is a bit of a shame – but the snack was still perfectly fine given the length of the flight. The airline still serves hot meals on longer flights.

The cabin crew were very friendly and eager to please. They all spoke Kazakh, Russian and English fluently.

Arrival Experience

It was stinking hot on the ground in Tashkent, with a temperature of over 40 degrees Celsius when we landed. But the mountains to the north-east of Tashkent were capped with snow!

Compared to Almaty, the international terminal at Islam Karimov Tashkent International Airport was large and modern.

But the thing that stood out about the arrival experience was the friendliness of the passport control officer. After stamping my passport, he looked me in the eye and said “welcome to Uzbekistan” in a way that really felt genuine. That was such a refreshing change from the usual immigration experience and created a great first impression of the country!

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.