Turkmenistan Airlines KUL-LGW in J for $1,300 one-way. Would you book it?

[Mattg]

This option came up when I was searching recently for Business class flights from Kuala Lumpur to London:



Both flights are on Boeing 777s, with a 2-hour layover in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

I seriously considered booking this but ended up choosing Turkish Airlines instead. Nonetheless, I find this option intriguing. The reviews of this airline are mixed (it seems there is no in-flight entertainment, food and service are average, but you do get a lie-flat bed).

The airline doesn't appear in the GDS so booking (and managing your booking) seems a bit complicated, but there are websites out there that will sell you a ticket.

Would you use this?

 

[nancypants]

The claims of no in flight entertainment are definitely false fyi, although the entertainment is definitely more fun if you have already experienced the weirdness of Turkmenistan!!

 

[Mattg]

The claims of no in flight entertainment are definitely false fyi, although the entertainment is definitely more fun if you have already experienced the weirdness of Turkmenistan!!

The reviews I've seen show that there are TV screens at each seat, but no actual entertainment content loaded onto the system.

 

[nancypants]

The reviews I've seen show that there are TV screens at each seat, but no actual entertainment content loaded onto the system.

Suspect they are old reviews, however I will attach some photos of the inflight entertainment available and yeah it’s pretty niche



The doll is a different, far longer story

 

[PERLHR]

If they were part of an alliance....no doubt. Yes would fly it for the experience at that price.

 

[AuSammy]

Suspect they are old reviews, however I will attach some photos of the inflight entertainment available and yeah it’s pretty niche

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The doll is a different, far longer story

A true “cultural” experience.

Definitely not following the pack with the standard LOPFAP fare

Other than the “entertainment”, how was the experience?

[aside from the route map I rarely ever use the entertainment system, even on trips to Europe or North America]

 

[nancypants]

A true “cultural” experience.

Definitely not following the pack with the standard LOPFAP fare

Other than the “entertainment”, how was the experience?

Well, part of the reason I say this is I fell (partially) for the reviews and didn’t even turn on the in flight entertainment other than the moving map, so the images of that are from a colleague

Re experience, I did a simple FRA-ASB-FRA (J out Y back) return, and a domestic KRW segment in Y

Other aspects of the posted reviews are also either inaccurate or more variable than would be led to believe

J out
-I believe ex Cathay equipment, good lie flats. Amenity kits provided with most of the usual stuff but no moisturiser type products. Have kept mine as a souvenir
-great blanket and pillow
-weirdness- you’re assigned a seat but the crew moved us all to the front section saying “sit anywhere”
—reports you can’t take photos seem to be inaccurate or not heavily enforced
-lots of food- most of it reasonable, I went for beef and it was overcooked but tasty (better than BA for example). Multiple sides, continuous supply of dessert, yogurts, further snacks
-appears to be a dry airline with limited beverage choices
-the inflight magazine is absolutely A1
-crew spoke great English in addition to Russian and presumably Turkmen. I didn’t test out their German language skills

My main criticism really is that they’re not particularly safety conscious- for example handing out lollies while doing the safety demo so you can’t actually see it. Although I didn’t feel uncomfortable otherwise
There was presumably a party member across the aisle to me and rules around sitting down/seatbelts etc did not appear to apply to him
They have quite limited fleet capacity to respond to IRROPS although I understand they hold connecting flights (as they really function as a cheap connecting operation)

Don’t even bother trying to get on the internet during the layover in Ashgabat

A small selection of not particularly curated images from my outbound

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[AuSammy]

Well, part of the reason I say this is I fell (partially) for the reviews and didn’t even turn on the in flight entertainment other than the moving map, so the images of that are from a colleague

Re experience, I did a simple FRA-ASB-FRA (J out Y back) return, and a domestic KRW segment in Y

Other aspects of the posted reviews are also either inaccurate or more variable than would be led to believe

J out
-I believe ex Cathay equipment, good lie flats. Amenity kits provided with most of the usual stuff but no moisturiser type products. Have kept mine as a souvenir
-great blanket and pillow
-weirdness- you’re assigned a seat but the crew moved us all to the front section saying “sit anywhere”
—reports you can’t take photos seem to be inaccurate or not heavily enforced
-lots of food- most of it reasonable, I went for beef and it was overcooked but tasty (better than BA for example). Multiple sides, continuous supply of dessert, yogurts, further snacks
-appears to be a dry airline with limited beverage choices
-the inflight magazine is absolutely A1
-crew spoke great English in addition to Russian and presumably Turkmen. I didn’t test out their German language skills

My main criticism really is that they’re not particularly safety conscious- for example handing out lollies while doing the safety demo so you can’t actually see it. Although I didn’t feel uncomfortable otherwise
There was presumably a party member across the aisle to me and rules around sitting down/seatbelts etc did not appear to apply to him
They have quite limited fleet capacity to respond to IRROPS although I understand they hold connecting flights (as they really function as a cheap connecting operation)

Don’t even bother trying to get on the internet during the layover in Ashgabat

A small selection of not particularly curated images from my outbound

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Thankyou. Appreciated.

J Looks pretty good to me. $1,300 to London in J one way is a good price also.

Last year SQ charged me almost that for Y exit row BNE-SIN-BNE.

(Also visiting the “stans” is a bucket list item)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I seriously considered booking this but ended up choosing Turkish Airlines instead.

Why? And how much was TK?