Air Astana currently flies from Astana to destinations in Europe including Frankfurt am Main and London Heathrow. The long-haul aircraft used are mostly Boeing 767-300ERs. The carrier's flagship is the business class, which is examined in detail in this article.
The Kazakh airline Air Astana currently only flies to Frankfurt am Main in the DA-CH region. The German metropolis is currently connected to the capital Astana, and an Almaty connection will soon be added. The carrier offers two traditional classes of travel on board its fleet - Business and Economy. This article deals with the C product on the Airbus A320 and Boeing 767 aircraft types.
Air Astana currently has three Boeing 767-300ERs registered in Ireland under the registrations EI-KEA, EI-KEB and EI-KEC. These are a "phase-out model" because the carrier will replace them with brand new Boeing 787s in the next few years. The cabins are in excellent condition, so passengers will not notice that these widebodies will be leaving the fleet in the foreseeable future.
In the A320: Business Class seats instead of “free middle seat”
In contrast to many European airlines, Air Astana also offers real business class seats on its A320 fleet. This has not been standard in Europe for a long time, as many airlines believe that it is sufficient to use normal eco seats and, if available, leave the seat next to or in the middle free. However, this does not offer passengers significantly more comfort. Air Astana uses real C-seats on its Airbus A320 aircraft, although these offer fewer amenities in direct comparison to those installed in the Boeing 767-300ER or Airbus A321LR.
The A321LR, which is also used on longer flights and whose range is partly increased by the installation of additional tanks, offers comparable C-seats to those on the Boeing 767 fleet. According to Air Astana, this is even the successor generation, which has a few more gimmicks.
Business class on the Boeing 767 is characterized by the fact that it offers comfortable seats that can also be folded flat into a bed. This is now the industry standard, but not all airlines offer it. The seat used by Air Astana allows for many adjustment options, but passengers are not offered a "remote control" but rather fixed buttons that are reminiscent of touchscreens. These are backed by a blue light so that they can be easily found in the dark. This has one major disadvantage: sometimes it can be a little complicated to get to the panel and the pictograms used are not necessarily self-explanatory.
New looking cabin in the Boeing 767
The business class seat in the Boeing 767-300ER offers numerous storage options so that passengers' belongings can be stowed away well. Both USB-A and 230V sockets are available for charging devices such as smartphones or laptops. These worked perfectly during the test flights. For bookworms, there is also a small reading lamp, although this does not have a particularly high light output, but this is intended so as not to disturb other people.
On the test flights, the entire cabin, including the seats, looked as good as new. The planes were also immaculately clean and the crew discreetly removed any small dirt caused by passengers during the journey, so that there was always a pleasant, clean feeling on board.
The flight time between Frankfurt and Astana vice versa is definitely not a short-haul flight. Therefore, an extensive onboard service is offered during the journey in business class. This begins with welcome drinks, where you can choose from water, juices and sparkling wine. On request, the crew also serves other thirst quenchers. Then - if possible before take-off - the orders for the hot meals are taken. Travelers can choose from a variety of menus on a menu. On the Frankfurt-Astana route, the catering comes from a German producer and on the opposite flight it is sourced from Kazakhstan. The company emphasizes that it uses fresh ingredients in both business and economy class.
Fresh and tasty food
The test flights showed that there is at least one vegetarian option. In general, the food is international and there are only a few Kazakh options. It is clear that they are trying to offer passengers as much of the world as possible, but at the expense of the highly recommended cuisine from their own country. Depending on availability, passengers can order as many drinks as they want. The cabin crew will keep going around and asking, but they can also be spoken to directly in the galley.
Before the starter is served, the flight attendants hand out warm cloth towels. These are then quickly collected again because the starter is about to be served. On the Frankfurt-Astana route, a salad with pumpkin pieces was served with potato salad, turnips, garlic bread, pretzels, butter, olive oil, salt and pepper. On the opposite flight, the passengers were first treated to salad, chicken with lecho and mustard, and pastries. In both cases, the dishes were attractively presented and tasty.
On the Astana-Frankfurt flight, chicken with vegetables and couscous was chosen as the main course. On the opposite route, chicken cordon bleu with asparagus and a potato dish as a side dish. This was served with cranberry sauce. In both cases, the dishes seemed fresh and were tasty. It should be noted that a green salad as a side dish would not have hurt the cordon bleu, although this is a matter of taste. A vegetarian alternative was spaetzle with asparagus.
Kazakh tradition: tea for dessert
The flight attendants traditionally serve tea with the desserts, although coffee is also available on request. Lemon, tea and honey are also offered as a kind of "topping" for the first-mentioned hot drink. This is Kazakh honey, by the way. The tea comes from the Greenfield company.
Travelers can choose from a variety of desserts. For example, cheese variations, cakes and fruits are offered. These all look and taste very good. Incidentally, the crew also offers nuts to nibble on. These are highly recommended and the cabin staff are happy to refill them.
One positive thing to note is that Air Astana is clearly trying to use as little plastic as possible. All food is served on porcelain with metal cutlery. Drinks are served in glasses or cups. And a small detail on the side. The olive oil is packaged in a - albeit small - glass and the salt and pepper shakers are also made of porcelain. The napkins are made of fabric and round off the high-quality product.
Shortly before landing, the flight attendants offer a snack. On the test flights, there was a choice between salad and Trapani rolls (tomato and mozzarella was chosen). Of course, the crew also served drinks, although this is not really worth mentioning, as these can be ordered at any time without restriction.
IFES with criticism: Annoying advertising before films
The in-flight entertainment system is characterized by a large screen. The headphones provided have a good sound. The product offered in the system is the same as that of other carriers and is not really worth mentioning. However, it is to be criticized that Air Astana will play very long advertising blocks in Kazakh before filming. For example, they advertise cars from Chinese manufacturers, a bank, and also BMW vehicles. In business class, passengers really don't need to be bombarded with advertising when watching IFES videos.
For a comfortable night's sleep on the full-flat C seat, cushions and two different blankets are available. The latter are collected by the crew shortly before landing at the destination, although there is no pre-recorded announcement in different languages. An almost funny detail: a tag is sewn onto the blankets stating that they are the property of Air Astana and may not be taken off the plane. The carrier may have had some previous experience with this, as such airline items are also very popular collector's items.
Good C-service also on the Airbus A320
On the Airbus A320, which is mainly used on short-haul and domestic flights, the built-in seat offers far less comfort than on long-haul flights. Nevertheless, it is considerably more comfortable than the European solution with economy class seats and an empty middle seat. On the test flight on the Astana-Almaty route, there was no permanently installed in-flight entertainment system. Instead, there were iPads mounted on the seats. In terms of content, the offer was identical to the long-haul product. The crew offered headphones that were comparable to those on the Boeing 767-300ER.
The onboard service was not fundamentally different from that on long-haul flights, but was carried out a little more quickly due to the shorter flight time. After the welcome drink, the familiar refreshing towel was handed out and after take-off, an extremely extensive, fresh breakfast was served. This consisted of muesli, fruit, melon, pastries, omelette, meat, vegetables, butter and meat loaf. All in all, delicious and the portion size was a good start to the day.
All kinds of drinks, including tea and coffee, can be ordered from the crew at any time without restriction. Blankets and cushions are also available on this type of aircraft upon request, although the crew also keeps an eye on passengers to ensure that they do not "take them with them".
Conclusion: Good product that is impressive
In summary, Air Astana offers a very ambitious and ambitious product in business class. They not only want to score points with good seats and a clean cabin, but also with friendly staff and good food. It is particularly worth mentioning that better seats are also offered on the Airbus A320. In general, the C product is impressive and is even superior to some European carriers. Unfortunately, this is no longer a particularly difficult feat in the service desert of Europe, especially on short-haul flights.
Air Astana itself has, according to its own statements, positioned itself as a full-service carrier in all travel classes. This is also intended to differentiate itself from its own subsidiary Fly Arystan, which was explicitly set up as a low-cost airline. Air Astana's route network is not only suitable for stays in Kazakhstan, but is also a very attractive option for reaching destinations in Asia with one transfer.
Finally, in the interests of transparency, it should be noted that the tickets for the three test flights on which this article is based were provided by Air Astana. The company had no influence on the reporting and certainly did not get to read it before publication.