Almaty trip report - Part 5 - ALA-DEL 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!)
I recall mentioning in a previous post in this series, that ALA has only 2 or 3 aerobridges. Here's one of them!
Flight: KC 907 ALA-DEL | 3h 20m | 1023 miles | Business Class
I recall mentioning in a previous post in this series, that ALA has only 2 or 3 aerobridges. Here's one of them!
So we had an apron boarding at ALA, and were taken to the aircraft by bus. I was quite surprised at the lack of any security or airline personnel between the departure lounge and the boarding gate just before the bus. Finally, my boarding pass was scanned and I was sent off to board the bus. One final picture of the terminal from the bus, and we were off to our plane.
Again, I was the first to board the front cabin (this time around it was 3/16 full). Immediately, I was offered a choice of water, orange juice and champagne (yep, the same Varichon et Clerc Brut). The earliest I've had a drink (not counting really late nights) is about 9 am, so it was something of a mini-thrill to have alcohol at 7 in the morning. Which is precisely what I did (but restricted it to this one glass for the entire journey).
Once the other two business class passengers had settled in, we were offered menus for breakfast. But no purser introductions this time.
I was initially a bit hesitant to order off a Russian and Kazakh menu (I did use Word Lens - but that's for a separate post) but thankfully there was a page in English too.
As was a wine list.
We pushed back maybe 5 minutes behind schedule, and I knew this wouldn't cause much problem - at least for me (I had a 5 hr 20 min layover in DEL). We were soon airborne, and once we reached cruising altitude, seat belts were off and the crew started serving breakfast. I'd asked for the Cheese Omelet with Lyonnaise Potatoes and Grilled Turkey Breast, which was brought over.
I was ravenous at this point, and so breakfast was completed in quick time. It tasted pretty good, too! Coffee followed, the way I like it - mostly black with a really small dash of milk.
In all this, I've forgotten to mention the amenity kit (see picture below). It was clearly less-than-impressive, and even the pouch (supposedly Chopard) felt like a cheap imitation found in Bangkok and Beijing street corners. The pouch itself contained a pair of eye-shades, DVT socks, and a tube of chapstick!
After a while, it got quite bright, and so the crew came over to close the windows in the cabin.
Thankfully, my side of the aircraft faced west, and the views were much more pleasant!
I spent some time watching a movie, and I now that I think back, cannot remember for the life of me, what movie it was. A little while later, the IFE came over to ask if I needed anything. I was feeling a bit parched, so I decided to have some orange juice. They had some freshly squeezed juice which was readily supplied, and boy was it good!
The rest of the journey all the way till Delhi was quite uneventful, and we reached DEL on time. I knew I had 5 hours to kill, so I spent my time at the duty free to pick up a couple of whiskies I hadn't tried before. Once I exited the international terminal, I also spent some time repacking my stuff, since you aren't allowed to carry the booze in your hand baggage on domestic flights.
The rest of the transit was boring, to say the least. I went over to the domestic check in area, and after getting my boarding pass and finishing up with security, I spent virtually all my transit time in the Plaza Premium lounge, having a bit to eat at lunchtime and finishing off some work and phone calls.
I thought of taking a short nap, but it turned out to be a few minutes to boarding for my DEL-MAA flight, so I headed out towards my boarding gate.
As was the case with our arrival, the departing aircraft was parked quite a distance out from the terminal building. Which gave me an opportunity to have another dekko at the aircraft at ALA.
We finally got to our aircraft after a pretty long ride.
This time, I had checked in online for a seat on the first row, after the rather bad experience I had with leg room on my flight in. Turns out, things aren't all that different in the first row!
Again, I was the first to board the front cabin (this time around it was 3/16 full). Immediately, I was offered a choice of water, orange juice and champagne (yep, the same Varichon et Clerc Brut). The earliest I've had a drink (not counting really late nights) is about 9 am, so it was something of a mini-thrill to have alcohol at 7 in the morning. Which is precisely what I did (but restricted it to this one glass for the entire journey).
Once the other two business class passengers had settled in, we were offered menus for breakfast. But no purser introductions this time.
I was initially a bit hesitant to order off a Russian and Kazakh menu (I did use Word Lens - but that's for a separate post) but thankfully there was a page in English too.
As was a wine list.
We pushed back maybe 5 minutes behind schedule, and I knew this wouldn't cause much problem - at least for me (I had a 5 hr 20 min layover in DEL). We were soon airborne, and once we reached cruising altitude, seat belts were off and the crew started serving breakfast. I'd asked for the Cheese Omelet with Lyonnaise Potatoes and Grilled Turkey Breast, which was brought over.
I was ravenous at this point, and so breakfast was completed in quick time. It tasted pretty good, too! Coffee followed, the way I like it - mostly black with a really small dash of milk.
In all this, I've forgotten to mention the amenity kit (see picture below). It was clearly less-than-impressive, and even the pouch (supposedly Chopard) felt like a cheap imitation found in Bangkok and Beijing street corners. The pouch itself contained a pair of eye-shades, DVT socks, and a tube of chapstick!
After a while, it got quite bright, and so the crew came over to close the windows in the cabin.
Thankfully, my side of the aircraft faced west, and the views were much more pleasant!
I spent some time watching a movie, and I now that I think back, cannot remember for the life of me, what movie it was. A little while later, the IFE came over to ask if I needed anything. I was feeling a bit parched, so I decided to have some orange juice. They had some freshly squeezed juice which was readily supplied, and boy was it good!
The rest of the journey all the way till Delhi was quite uneventful, and we reached DEL on time. I knew I had 5 hours to kill, so I spent my time at the duty free to pick up a couple of whiskies I hadn't tried before. Once I exited the international terminal, I also spent some time repacking my stuff, since you aren't allowed to carry the booze in your hand baggage on domestic flights.
The rest of the transit was boring, to say the least. I went over to the domestic check in area, and after getting my boarding pass and finishing up with security, I spent virtually all my transit time in the Plaza Premium lounge, having a bit to eat at lunchtime and finishing off some work and phone calls.
I thought of taking a short nap, but it turned out to be a few minutes to boarding for my DEL-MAA flight, so I headed out towards my boarding gate.
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