Flying The World’s Cheapest Business Class

I recently travelled to Uzbekistan and needed to get from the ancient city of Samarkand to Tashkent, the nation’s capital. When searching for flights with Uzbekistan Airways, I was pleasantly surprised to find that a Business Class ticket on this route would only cost USD50.20 (~AU$73).

An Economy fare would have cost USD17.20 (~AU$25) without checked baggage, or USD22.20 (~AU$32) with a bag.

Given the short flight time of only 50 minutes, I would have ordinarily just booked the Economy ticket with baggage included. But my curiosity was piqued and the cheap Business Class airfare seemed like a deal that was just too good to refuse.

Since I took this flight, Uzbekistan Airways has slightly increased the Business Class fare to USD52.30 (~AU$77). They’ve also added an extra daily service on this route which is operated by a Let L-410 aircraft with Economy-only seating. But you can still fly Business Class on the Airbus A320neo for a very good price.

So, what’s Uzbekistan Airways Business Class like on a domestic flight?

The Uzbekistan Airways Business Class experience

Uzbekistan Airways doesn’t have a lounge at Samarkand Airport, but the new terminal was a pleasant place to wait.

There was a check-in counter marked as “Business Class”, although there was no separate line for it. This didn’t matter as there was only a short queue anyway, and I was checked-in in no time. We boarded via a bus gate, so priority boarding wasn’t particularly useful.

The flight was operated by a fairly new Airbus A320neo with a dedicated Business Class cabin. There were three rows of reclining Business Class seats in a 2-2 layout, which were wider and came with more legroom than the Economy seats. I was in seat 2F.

Before departure, a flight attendant offered Business Class passengers a choice of water, apple juice, orange juice or Pepsi served in a paper cup.

There were power outlets available at each seat, as well as seat-back in-flight entertainment screens. I was quite impressed with the selection of entertainment available, including a large music library. I also enjoyed the Uzbekistan Airways safety video, which was played in Uzbek and then (dubbed) in English:

We were only in the air for around 40 minutes, and the seatbelt sign was kept on for the entire flight, so there was no in-flight service of any sort. But I really didn’t need a meal on a short flight leaving at 3.45pm anyway – especially given the ticket price!

Uzbekistan Airways does serve meals on longer flights.

We had some nice views along the way as we took off from Samarkand and headed north-east en route to Tashkent.

This was the full route:

We arrived in Tashkent around 10 minutes behind schedule, and I was in a taxi heading into the city within a few minutes of landing.

Why was the airfare so cheap?

It is fairly normal for domestic flights to be cheaper in countries where average incomes are lower. In any case, in general, I found travelling in Uzbekistan to be very affordable.

But just because Economy airfares are cheap, doesn’t necessarily mean Business Class fares are also cheap. I suspect that Uzbekistan’s excellent high-speed rail system could have something to do with it.

I was thoroughly impressed with the train service from Tashkent to Samarkand (which I used to travel in the other direction). A “business class” train ticket was under AU$20 and the trip barely took two hours to cover a distance of more than 300km. The trains are also more frequent than flights on this route, making them a genuine alternative for business travellers.

Given the short flight time and lack of extra benefits on the ground, you’re really just paying for the seat and extra baggage allowance with a domestic Uzbekistan Airways Business Class ticket. But for the record, Business Class was completely full.

I can only assume that Uzbekistan Airways has deliberately decided to price its domestic Business Class at a level that people are actually prepared to pay. This is in stark contrast to the usual strategy of trying to cream a high margin out of business travellers, even if this means selling only a few Business Class seats. (Often, when airlines do this, they end up filling some of the seats with cheap upgrades anyway.)

Visiting Samarkand

As an aside, I would thoroughly recommend visiting Uzbekistan – especially the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand!

It’s a safe and seriously underrated tourist destination, and the architecture is out of this world. (Other AFF members who’ve visited have reached similar conclusions.)

The major attraction in Samarkand is the Registan. This square, once home to Islamic schools and a beautiful mosque, has been the centre of the Timurid Empire – today part of Uzbekistan – for hundreds of years.

Have you found a cheaper Business Class flight?

So far, I’m yet to come across another Business Class flight that was cheaper than an Uzbekistan Airways Samarkand-Tashkent ticket.

AU$73 wasn’t the cost of an upgrade or the co-payment on an award booking – it was the regular retail price. I didn’t even book during a special sale.

If you’ve managed to find a cheaper Business Class flight anywhere in the world, I’d love to know! Let me know in the AFF thread linked below – and if you booked it, please share how your experience was.

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.