Almaty trip report - Part 2 - DEL-ALA on Air Astana Business Class

Work took me to Amlaty in Kazakhstan a couple of weeks back. Here's the trip report index (that will be tentative and changeable until the final part is published!)

1. MAA-DEL on Jet Airways 9W 822, and transit in DEL
2. DEL-ALA on Air Astana KC 908
3. The Ritz-Carlton, Almaty - hotel review
4. Almaty airport departures and Business Class lounge review
5. ALA-DEL on Air Astana KC 907 (aka 7 am is sparkling wine time), and transit in DEL
6. DEL-MAA on Jet Airways 9W 822

Flight: KC 908 DEL-ALA | 3h 15m | 1023 miles | Business Class

First things first - I scoured online for any reviews about Air Astana, particularly on this sector. And while I did spot some information, it wasn't very helpful. So all I had to go by was the information on their website, which as it turned out (and as is the case with virtually all things advertising), showcases only their most premium offerings - in this case, the Boeing 767-300ERs and 757-200s.

On entering the cabin, I was greeted by the cabin crew stationed at the galley. The first impression I got was that of a functional but stern crew which assessment, as it turned out, was quite on the ball. I wouldn't call them grumpy, but they certainly weren't the kind that might have lent me their earphones (see part 1 of this series) !!! 

Turns out, I was the first passenger on board in business class, which helped take this picture.

I went ahead and got settled into my seat, and instantly realised this wasn't going to be as great a business class flight as I had hoped for.

 

As you can see, the leg-room was quite pathetic, and would've been annoying in a full cabin. Oh, and I hate to think how much worse the leg-room in economy might be. And it isn't as though the Kazakhs are small people either! Over-entitled much, I was asking myself...The good thing, however, was that all seats had a power outlet, and so I was able to charge my laptop and my phone during the flight.

The flight was supposed to be quite full but given how many seats were taken up till that point, I realised we weren't leaving in a hurry. So I flipped through the magazine and the in-flight entertainment guide (I should add that they were mostly in Russian / Kazakh, with limited English translations, so that didn't help much).

 

A few minutes later, one of the cabin crew came over to offer a pre-departure drink. I chose the champagne, which turned out to be a Varichon et Clerc Blanc de Blancs Brut. Given that a bottle retails for US$14, and compared to what the Air Astana website touted as business class service, this was a bit disappointing, but I went ahead with it all the same.

And finally, after the safety announcements and just before takeoff, we were offered a candy! Can I say how thoughtful this was, since liftoffs from DEL are quite rapid (in view of the high traffic levels) and can easily block the ears. Also, it has been a really long time since I had an airline offer sweets (I really can't recall anything of the sort beyond the late 1990s).

We reached cruising altitude in due course, and immediately after the seat belt sign went off, the lead purser came over and introduced herself to each of the passengers in the front cabin. She then asked for the choice of meal (no menu was offered) between beef and chicken for the non-vegetarians. I went with the chicken.

Lunch was served soon, and to be honest, it looked quite appetising. And the taste of the meal (the entree was a local Kazakh dish, I'm told) wasn't too bad either, which served as a good culinary start to the rest of the trip.

The drinks trolley was rolled in immediately.

I wasn't too keen on trying out any of the wines, so I stuck to the champagne (or was it sparking wine?), this time with a bowl of spiced and salted almonds.

I forgot to mention this before, but I was also a bit intrigued by the strap that ran along the seat back in front of me (didn't get a picture on this flight), and wondered if that was actually a nifty idea for passengers to hold on to, when leaving their seat. Turned out, it served an altogether different, if not higher, purpose. There is no personal entertainment system at the seats, so the crew handed out iPads prefitted with a holder that was held in place by the strap on the seat back. The setting also included a pair of earphones. 

And so, it was the Secret Life of Walter Mitty for me.

Because this was an offline entertainment system, there was no flight map. I say that because of the views. I must make a specific mention of the scenery outside the window. It was June, which can get quite hot in the north of India and even further north, but I was stunned by the views outside, of snow capped mountains. Take a look! I'm guessing these are from the Karakoram range, but I could be wrong.

We overflew China and Kyrgyztan, before entering Kazakh airspace. From above, the ground below is a beautiful spectacle - a wonderful collage of cultivation plots of land, bordered by snow-capped mountains! It was this sort of a view that served as a guide path for our landing into ALA airport, which itself is bordered on one side by mountains. It was also a great looking day - bright and sunny, yet quite cool and breezy. And it was clear that it had rained not more than a few hours before we landed.

ALA airport also clearly seemed to be a military airport, given all that sort of aircraft lying around (I say "lying around" quite intentionally - they were large birds that didn't look like they were in a hurry to move!).

The airport has only 2 or 3 aerobridges, so most traffic is handled from the apron and passengers are transported to the terminal on buses. So after one final picture of the aircraft from the bus, it was time to go.

The welcome into ALA wasn't exactly welcoming. For obvious reasons of personal record, I took this picture as we were entering the terminal building, but was immediately shooed off by a very annoyed security guard.

Immigration was done in a very (which I later realised) Kazakh / Russian way - military and brusque. Then came the long wait for the bags, in an arrivals facility that looked marginally bigger than the one I'd experienced in Tuticorin (OK, I'm exaggerating, but you know what I mean!).

 

There's no separate customs desk, though you have to get your hand-baggage screened on an x-ray machine. And from there, out of the airport! But not before one final picture as I left the airport.

Almaty, here I come!