Uzbeckistan Airways to Bangkok from London

[deanjames 0]

I flew Uzbeckistan for xmas via Tashkent to Bangkok.

 

This was by far my worst experience on a plane to date, I'll go into details if anybodys really that interested but i thought for now i'll just post this to warn people off.

 

Awful awful awful everything.

[wacmedia 277]

Hi

 

I though it might be a new experience.

[deanjames 0]

Thank god for Stilnox and Xanax otherwise i dont think i'd have had the balls to board the flight home, fu*kin horrble but now i look back kinda funny i suppose.

 

Never ever ever ever ever ever again!

[lv2play 0]

Details please.

I,m wondering about the inconviniance to save a few pounds

[jogsuk 0]

Go on tell us about your experience, i flew with them last year the aircraft was ok but the service (no tv's porgarmming, entertainment) and food was crap but at the price and for a few hours of shit service when I got to Pattaya it was all worth it wasn't it 4 you??

 

[lemons 0]

DJ.

Your initial comments prompted me to go to the Skytracs site and sus out some passenger opinions re this 'airline'. What a fucking rock show this mob are! I cant wait to hear your tale.

 

Here's the link and a few extracts from the comments:

 

http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/uzbekistan.htm

 

1) Some other funny things: the plane was carrying a huge spare aircraft tire in the passenger cabin. The jet had it's auxillary power engine turned on, which is located under the fuselage, so when we ran from the terminal to the jet it was absolutely deafeningly loud - I mean so loud I had to stop running and cover my ears. But the plane didn't crash, so that's a positive aspect.

 

2) Very uncomfortable landings as it appears these former Russian pilots are not fully trained to fly the Boeing aircraft. All five landings hit the tarmac very hard.

 

3) There's also no assigned seating (at least on my Bukhara to Moscow flight). Result: everyone is paranoid about not getting a seat on the airplane. And there's a mad running dash from the terminal, across the tarmac to the parked airplane where flight attendants literally have to beat back the crowds of shoving people trying to get on board the huge IL-86 Russian jet.

 

4) Plane was dirty and unpleasant foul smell (urine) throughout the flight. Majority of cabin crew members did not smile and tone of voice was rude. Never will recommend my friends or family to take this airline.

 

5) You get off, are shepherded off the tarmac by a man with a machine gun, who then lets you back when the cart with the luggage is unloaded. your luggage tag is checked very thoroughly.

 

Happy trails

Edited January 9, 2006 by lemons

[deanjames 0]

Just every element of the flight was wrong.

 

The staff were rude and wouldnt serve drinks, one hostess told me they only had 4 bottles of mineral water for the whole economy section of the plane when I asked for more water. beer and spirits ran out within minutes.

 

The food was like nothing i've ever seen, starter on the the way out was a gherkin pinned to a slice of tomato by a cocktail stick and the main course was a chicken curry which had absolutley not one bit of meat it was just skin, gristle and fat.

 

Seating was first come first served, somebody had allready nicked my seat by the time I got there and was fast asleep. I did try to wake him up and he just took another swig from his whiskey bottle and fell back to sleep. Later on in the flight he kept falling on me and putting his hand on my leg etc which was quite scary! He was actually a nice fella from india going back to see his family but no manners!

 

People were asleep on the floor in front of their seats and in the isles cradling bottles of vodka and the like, quite funny but not if you know what I mean.

 

The seats were tiny and i'm not a big fella (68kgs 5ft 8) the pitch was dead upright, actually they almost felt almost like they were leaning forward....

 

toilets were covered in piss, I walked into one half way through the flight with no shoes on not realising. wet piss feet for the rest of the journey. yuk!

 

2 irish men were fighting and abusing other passengers, also singing really loudly and the attendants turned a blind eye to it. After they woke me up for the 10th time of got up and threatened to kill them both (was quite distressed at this point) and they shut up for about ten minutes and then started again. At which point another man much heavier built than me done the same and the shut up for about half an hour and started fighting again.

They were so pissed they shouldnt have been allowed on the flight. i'm suprised they got into the terminal to be honest.

 

Tashkent airport is a cross between a graveyard for old russian planes and a concentration camp. I did wonder if I was being herded off for execution at one point. Nobody knew what was going on. Watching out the window, almost every car driving round the airport was an old Lada. not seen them in a while!

 

Taxing down the runway was funny seeing planes simlar to the one i was riding in but with missing engines, windows, wings etc! It was minus 15 when we landed and i was in tracksuit bottoms and a tshirt, everything else was in my case (my own fault I know) I was dressed for bangkok....

 

No entertainment, not even a magazine.

 

Next year i'll do the sensible thing and book early!! my brother booked his xmas flights about 4 months before. they had doubled by november.

 

The View Talay limo driver waiting for me when I came out of customs was like a shining light. He managed to get me to pattaya in an hour and a half and safely. Big tip for him. I was out on the piss on xmas eve by 11.00pm (landed BKK at 8.15)

 

For the money at that time of year I cant complain as every other airline was double the price or more so It served a purpose.

 

Thank buddah i'm alive and yes it was still worth it to have such a great time in Pattaya. :)

Edited January 9, 2006 by deanjames

[lv2play 0]

Just every element of the flight was wrong.

 

The staff were rude and wouldnt serve drinks, one hostess told me they only had 4 bottles of mineral water for the whole economy section of the plane when I asked for more water. beer and spirits ran out within minutes.

 

The food was like nothing i've ever seen, starter on the the way out was a gherkin pinned to a slice of tomato by a cocktail stick and the main course was a chicken curry which had absolutley not one bit of meat it was just skin, gristle and fat.

 

Seating was first come first served, somebody had allready nicked my seat by the time I got there and was fast asleep. I did try to wake him up and he just took another swig from his whiskey bottle and fell back to sleep. Later on in the flight he kept falling on me and putting his hand on my leg etc which was quite scary! He was actually a nice fella from india going back to see his family but no manners!

 

People were asleep on the floor in front of their seats and in the isles cradling bottles of vodka and the like, quite funny but not if you know what I mean.

 

The seats were tiny and i'm not a big fella (68kgs 5ft 8) the pitch was dead upright, actually they almost felt almost like they were leaning forward....

 

toilets were covered in piss, I walked into one half way through the flight with no shoes on not realising. wet piss feet for the rest of the journey. yuk!

 

2 irish men were fighting and abusing other passengers, also singing really loudly and the attendants turned a blind eye to it. After they woke me up for the 10th time of got up and threatened to kill them both (was quite distressed at this point) and they shut up for about ten minutes and then started again. At which point another man much heavier built than me done the same and the shut up for about half an hour and started fighting again.

They were so pissed they shouldnt have been allowed on the flight. i'm suprised they got into the terminal to be honest.

 

Tashkent airport is a cross between a graveyard for old russian planes and a concentration camp. I did wonder if I was being herded off for execution at one point. Nobody knew what was going on. Watching out the window, almost every car driving round the airport was an old Lada. not seen them in a while!

 

Taxing down the runway was funny seeing planes simlar to the one i was riding in but with missing engines, windows, wings etc! It was minus 15 when we landed and i was in tracksuit bottoms and a tshirt, everything else was in my case (my own fault I know) I was dressed for bangkok....

 

No entertainment, not even a magazine.

 

Next year i'll do the sensible thing and book early!! my brother booked his xmas flights about 4 months before. they had doubled by november.

 

The View Talay limo driver waiting for me when I came out of customs was like a shining light. He managed to get me to pattaya in an hour and a half and safely. Big tip for him. I was out on the piss on xmas eve by 11.00pm (landed BKK at 8.15)

 

For the money at that time of year I cant complain as every other airline was double the price or more so It served a purpose.

 

Thank buddah i'm alive and yes it was still worth it to have such a great time in Pattaya. :)

 

Is that all?

 

Around Cristmas and Newyear all planes are packed, you better look for tickets in febr.or march already to get the best deals.

[wacmedia 277]

Hi,

 

Think you got an authentic Soviet experience. Say those pilots are good though, probably ex-military, can't be assed with the finer points of landing a plane.

[marleyboy 140]

well id never travel on an eastern european air-line sorry! first time i went long haul it was to sri lanka, me and a few mates went with gulf-air and 2 mates went aeroflot! on the way home my mates on aeroflot left colombo 13 hours before us and got home 8 hours after us! so go figure! i think with gulf we changed planes twice as well! worst one ive been to thai with was bangladesh biman (mind you they coulnt have been that bad cos i went with them twice!) so now i try and go thai or eva!

[Bagwan 0]

Sorry, I do feel for you but your experience with Uzbeck had me in hysterics.

 

Many years ago flew back with BA, then BOAC, from Jo'burg to LHR on a VC10 (remember them?), stopping at Entebbe. Because of apartheid non whites couldn't or wouldn't fly SAA so there were many dusky faces. After Entebbe the tinted persons who had just boarded (more than a touch of Arab there) sat on the cabin floor, fired up a primus stove and brewed tea until cabin staff intervened. Always flew SAA or KLM to and from Jo'burg after that.

 

Flying from Atlanta to Savannah with Delta I asked for a G&T after take off. The frosty faced stewardess (both were older than I was and this one had varicose veins!) replied that the flight was only 25 minutes. Good. Time for two then I replied. Drink was dumped in front of me with bad grace so I asked for the lady's name so that I could include it on my complaint. She refused. When I got off the plane she muttered, "Fucking God awful Brits."

[deanjames 0]

Sorry, I do feel for you but your experience with Uzbeck had me in hysterics.

 

Lets just say that i'll appreciate things a lot more on my future flights with BA, EVA, Etihad etc....

 

I wish id taken a camera on that plane, the pics would be priceless!

[roderick17 0]

I flew with uzbek air a couple of years ago, from Bkk to Tashkent and then back to Bangkok. I thought they were just fine. The food was good, the hosties were attentive and the flight arrived on time.. Even in the inflight video was good.

 

no, I had no complaints about that airline in fact I would rate them ahead of Qantas, at least the stewardesses were young and friendly.

[jacko 8,775]

damned funny stuff, sorry I got such a good laugh out of your discomfort.

Reminds me of a TAROM flight I did years ago when I was poverty stricken.

 

More flight horror stories please!

Not only funny but helps me justify spending too much on a biz class flight.