Review: Uzbekistan Airways Economy Class Airbus A320-214 [FRU-TAS]
FRU-TAS
Monday, August 22
Depart: 07:50PM
Arrive: 08:10PM
Duration: 1 hour 55 minutes
Plane: Airbus A320
Seat: 16C (Aisle)
After spending a week in Kyrgyzstan, I head to the neighboring country Uzbekistan and continued my trip in Central Asia. Flying to Uzbekistan from Kyrgyzstan is the most practical way because of the complicated country borders around the Fergana Valley region. The long story short version is that I’d have to cross Kazakhstan after entering Uzbekistan once and then re-enter Uzbekistan again if I’d use ground transport. With a single-entry visa to Uzbekistan, that was not feasible for me.
This was also my first time flying Uzbekistan Airways, and I took another round-trip flight from Tashkent to Nukus to see the Aral Sea on my later days in Uzbekistan in the same plane model with the Airbus A320.
Uzbekistan Airways Economy Class Airbus A320- Booking
I’ve booked a cash price of ~$124 for a one-way Economy Class ticket directly on Uzbekistan Airways website. One thing you have to keep in mind is that the flight does not fly everyday coming from Bishkek to Tashkent (Sat, Mon, Tues, and Thu only), so definitely consider your schedules in Kyrgyzstan. Uzbekistan Airways only accept Visa & MasterCard as well.
Uzbekistan Airways Economy Class Airbus A320- Check-in
After checking out of Sheraton Bishkek and ate a quick dinner at the Bishkek Park mall that the hotel connects to, I made my way to the airport. Going to Manas International Airport from the hotel may take around 30-40 minutes as it’s located in the northern outskirts of Bishkek.
After checking in my baggage, I hung around the Business Lounge at the airport. A small and quiet lounge that’s nothing special. But, it comes with a nice view of the runway.
Uzbekistan Airways Economy Class Airbus A320- Boarding
The lounge had a boarding screen, and I headed my way to the terminal downstairs when the boarding process began. It was a bit chaotic since there was no clear line at the gates, and people were just butting against each other to board first. I didn’t know what happened, but I happened to be one of the first to board luckily, and managed to take pictures of the seats while the plane was empty.
Uzbekistan Airways Airbus A320 Economy Class- Flight Experience
Economy Class seats on the Uzbekistan Airways Airbus A320 has 3-3 seat configurations. The seats are donned in navy blue and as comfortable as they look for a short flight. Luckily, I was assigned to an aisle seat.
Leg space is 32 inches. which is above average compared to the typical 31 inch on Economy Class. I’m 5’5″ (165cm) for reference.
The flight was very short, so only drinks were served. I had a cup of Pepsi and water. If you only drink sugar-free sodas, then it won’t be an option as they’re pretty uncommon in Uzbekistan in general.
There are no screens in front of the seats, and my source of entertainment for the flight was the safety video, which I found really great and certainly grabbed my full attention. A great production with nice music and humorous performance.
Here’s the lavatory. Standard and clean.
Once I arrived at Islam Karimov International Airport (TAS), I got off on the runway and waited for a shuttle to get inside the airport. I then grabbed my baggage and made my way to Hilton Tashkent City with Yandex Go taxi while being bombarded with taxi drivers. Always use Yandex Go in Central Asia. It functions like Uber and offer the most fair price, especially for foreigners.
Conclusion
My first flight with Uzbekistan Airways went smooth and on schedule. The seats are very plush for Economy Class, and I really enjoyed their entertaining safety video. There’s not much to complain about for such a short flight.