Almaty trip report - Part 4 - Almaty airport departures and business class lounge review
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!)
It was still quite early, so the moon had not yet set fully.
On the way, I did notice this board for a small local airline that runs flights to neighbouring countries including erstwhile USSR countries. I wonder what exact onboard services they offer !!!
I took one final shot of the mountains that are ubiquitous from across anywhere in Almaty,
before heading into the terminal building.
There's a pre-departure area for visitors to bid goodbye to passengers.
There are some shops here too, but most of them (bar this one below) seemed to sell either local chocolates or Hello Kitty stuff!
Straight ahead from the entrance to the building, is a small security outpost that you need to pass through, after showing them your passport and ticket for a cursory check. That brought me to the check in and passport control area, which is before security hold.
I checked in and got my boarding pass in hand, as also a voucher to the lounge. I specifically remember asking if there was a lounge (I should have asked if there was "a lounge to speak of", but I didn't, and I paid for it!).
There were only a couple of departures around the 7.30 mark that was the STD for my Air Astana flight KC 907 to DEL, and so the place was quite deserted. Even the passport control desks weren't operating at full strength.
But because of the absence of many passengers, I was done with passport control in a matter of seconds. Turn left, and past the rest of the desks, led me straight to the security checks. I didn't manage any pictures here, but there was no requirement to take off shoes, belts and watches, or to separately scan liquids in cabin baggage. I was, however, carrying some local currency in coins, that were asked to be kept separately for scanning.
Security was done in a jiffy, and that led straight to the pre-departure hold, which includes
There was no buffet or anything of the sort. The counter had limited options on offer, in terms of food.
There was also a cooler with some soft drinks and beers, and a display with other foodstuffs.
And much as I tried, I couldn't find anyone to help me, till I spotted this.
This chap was supposed to be managing the lounge, but he was out there, virtually passed out. I went back outside to the guy that collected my lounge pass, and asked him to wake this guy up, which was done in due course.
The next problem (or problems?) was that this guy couldn't speak a word of English, which I found quite strange since (a) this was the only business class lounge (or any lounge) in the airport, and (b) it was hosting Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, BA and Air Astana passengers, in addition to some others. Therefore, I would have expected at least basic English (or other foreign language) skills. But sorry, no dice.
Finally, the mother who was with her child in the lounge, offered to translate. Here's what I figured out eventually, thanks to her help. There's an entitlement card, on what the business class lounge voucher is good for.
That's basically three sets of choices: croissant/danish and coffee, sandwich/burger and soft drink, or beer/juice and chips/crisps. However, there's an overriding clause, that the total value of what you ask for cannot exceed 1500 Tenge (local currency). The problem is, any of these choices will result in at least 1700 Tenge of cost, which is not entirely covered by the business class voucher, so there's a difference there. You'd say, pay for it, but I'd say, wait and read on...
I knew that I'd be served a good breakfast on board, but I was missing my morning coffee and cookies, so I picked a cookie and coffee, hoping to use the lounge pass for 1500 Tenge and pay the balance in cash. But no, that wasn't possible - I could pick one item (that would be less than 1500 Tenge) and pay for the other, but not top up beyond 1500 Tenge with cash. I would have done it, but I didn't have enough local currency (and he wouldn't take US$) beyond 250 Tenge. I've found tax returns easier to fill up!
I think the exasperation on my face showed pretty clearly, and the helpful lady berated the guy for the pathetic service and pricing approach. He finally waived the excess 200 Till on my order that racked up 1700 Tenge on the till ("till" is a euphemism for a bill that was never generated).
Oh, and there were no cookies, so I had to make do with what seemed like a 3-day old sandwich that I left untouched.
The seating space is limited, and at best, could handle about 2 A320 flights' worth of passengers. I shudder to think of what would happen if there's a delay on a third flight!
It was now time for boarding, and indeed, boarding for my flight was already open. I made a quick visit to the smoking lounge - which was probably the best thing about the departure area (if not the entire airport). And then, off to the gate...
After a 5 am departure from the hotel for a 7.30 am flight, I reached ALA airport in about 20 minutes, given that there was virtually zero traffic on the early Saturday morning.
It was still quite early, so the moon had not yet set fully.
On the way, I did notice this board for a small local airline that runs flights to neighbouring countries including erstwhile USSR countries. I wonder what exact onboard services they offer !!!
I took one final shot of the mountains that are ubiquitous from across anywhere in Almaty,
before heading into the terminal building.
There's a pre-departure area for visitors to bid goodbye to passengers.
There are some shops here too, but most of them (bar this one below) seemed to sell either local chocolates or Hello Kitty stuff!
Straight ahead from the entrance to the building, is a small security outpost that you need to pass through, after showing them your passport and ticket for a cursory check. That brought me to the check in and passport control area, which is before security hold.
I checked in and got my boarding pass in hand, as also a voucher to the lounge. I specifically remember asking if there was a lounge (I should have asked if there was "a lounge to speak of", but I didn't, and I paid for it!).
There were only a couple of departures around the 7.30 mark that was the STD for my Air Astana flight KC 907 to DEL, and so the place was quite deserted. Even the passport control desks weren't operating at full strength.
But because of the absence of many passengers, I was done with passport control in a matter of seconds. Turn left, and past the rest of the desks, led me straight to the security checks. I didn't manage any pictures here, but there was no requirement to take off shoes, belts and watches, or to separately scan liquids in cabin baggage. I was, however, carrying some local currency in coins, that were asked to be kept separately for scanning.
Security was done in a jiffy, and that led straight to the pre-departure hold, which includes
- a lounge (that you'll read about below)
- duty free shop
- a bar that also serves some snacks
- reasonable number of seats having regard to the traffic size passing through this particular airport, and
- a smoking area.
Business class lounge review
First, some pictures. The place was empty, except for a mother with her child, a couple of other gentleman, and me.There was no buffet or anything of the sort. The counter had limited options on offer, in terms of food.
There was also a cooler with some soft drinks and beers, and a display with other foodstuffs.
And much as I tried, I couldn't find anyone to help me, till I spotted this.
This chap was supposed to be managing the lounge, but he was out there, virtually passed out. I went back outside to the guy that collected my lounge pass, and asked him to wake this guy up, which was done in due course.
The next problem (or problems?) was that this guy couldn't speak a word of English, which I found quite strange since (a) this was the only business class lounge (or any lounge) in the airport, and (b) it was hosting Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, BA and Air Astana passengers, in addition to some others. Therefore, I would have expected at least basic English (or other foreign language) skills. But sorry, no dice.
Finally, the mother who was with her child in the lounge, offered to translate. Here's what I figured out eventually, thanks to her help. There's an entitlement card, on what the business class lounge voucher is good for.
That's basically three sets of choices: croissant/danish and coffee, sandwich/burger and soft drink, or beer/juice and chips/crisps. However, there's an overriding clause, that the total value of what you ask for cannot exceed 1500 Tenge (local currency). The problem is, any of these choices will result in at least 1700 Tenge of cost, which is not entirely covered by the business class voucher, so there's a difference there. You'd say, pay for it, but I'd say, wait and read on...
I knew that I'd be served a good breakfast on board, but I was missing my morning coffee and cookies, so I picked a cookie and coffee, hoping to use the lounge pass for 1500 Tenge and pay the balance in cash. But no, that wasn't possible - I could pick one item (that would be less than 1500 Tenge) and pay for the other, but not top up beyond 1500 Tenge with cash. I would have done it, but I didn't have enough local currency (and he wouldn't take US$) beyond 250 Tenge. I've found tax returns easier to fill up!
I think the exasperation on my face showed pretty clearly, and the helpful lady berated the guy for the pathetic service and pricing approach. He finally waived the excess 200 Till on my order that racked up 1700 Tenge on the till ("till" is a euphemism for a bill that was never generated).
Oh, and there were no cookies, so I had to make do with what seemed like a 3-day old sandwich that I left untouched.
Pro-tip
Simple one - if you're planning to use this lounge, don't.Duty free and general seating
There is a reasonably large general duty free shop with a preponderance of vodka options, which is not a bad place for a quick visit to buy some local vodka. There's also an extension counter that sells jewellery and electronics.The seating space is limited, and at best, could handle about 2 A320 flights' worth of passengers. I shudder to think of what would happen if there's a delay on a third flight!
It was now time for boarding, and indeed, boarding for my flight was already open. I made a quick visit to the smoking lounge - which was probably the best thing about the departure area (if not the entire airport). And then, off to the gate...
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