Most Australians are already familiar with low-cost carriers, but they’re a relatively new concept in Central Asia. FlyArystan was the very first low-cost carrier to launch in the region, commencing flights in 2019.

You might not have heard of FlyArystan before, but you may have heard of the man who started it, Tim Jordan. After launching FlyArystan, Jordan became the founder and CEO of Bonza right here in Australia.

FlyArystan and Bonza share very similar visions. They both want to make flying affordable for everyone, and they’ve both entered a lot of new markets that previously had no direct air service. FlyArystan has already had great success with this – since launching, average airfares in Kazakhstan have halved while demand for air travel has increased by 300%.

FlyArystan serves domestic and short-haul international routes out of Kazakhstan using a fleet of modern Airbus A320s. It’s owned by Air Astana, the national airline of Kazakhstan.

Both Air Astana and FlyArystan actually use the same Air Operator Certificate (AOC), meaning both airlines use the same “KC” IATA code. It also means that FlyArystan’s operations adhere to the same high safety standards as its mother airline – something that made me feel very reassured when I recently flew with them.

Last month I needed to get from Samarkand in Uzbekistan to Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan. FlyArystan was the only airline offering direct flights on this route. I gladly took the opportunity to give them a try, and I’m happy to report that they didn’t let me down!

Flight Details

Flight number	KC7880
Route	Samarkand (SKD) to Almaty (ALA)
Aircraft type	Airbus A320
Class of travel	Economy
Seat number	1C
On-time performance	We arrived on time
Star rating

The route

Flight Cost

I paid AUD136 for a one-way ticket from Samarkand to Almaty. I also opted to pay an extra AUD125 for a “Comfort Plus” add-on including a 20kg checked bag, an extra 5kg of hand baggage, more flexibility, priority boarding and the option to select an extra-legroom seat at no additional charge. This brought the total cost to AUD261.

Airport Experience

Samarkand’s newly-built airport terminal is strikingly nice and spacious.

After a quick security check to enter the building, there was no queue at all to check in for my FlyArystan flight to Almaty. Most of the other passengers were checking in for a different flight heading to Moscow.

Please note that FlyArystan may charge a fee to check-in at the airport on some types of domestic tickets within Kazakhstan. I did check-in online, but as this was an international flight, I had to go to the airport counter to collect my boarding pass anyway and there were no fees applicable.

I cleared immigration and security and headed upstairs to the modern international departures terminal. Having flown domestically out of Samarkand last year, this was a vast improvement over the domestic flight waiting area!

There was an empty airport lounge located up the stairs at the end of the departures hall. They don’t accept Priority Pass, and there was no lounge access included with my ticket, so I wasn’t able to get in. But the lady at reception mentioned that they do accept DragonPass, which could be useful if you have a CommBank Ultimate Awards credit card.

Boarding began on time. The ground staff were vigorously enforcing the hand baggage size and weight limits, much to the bemusement of a gentleman attempting to take a few dozen loaves of traditional Samarkand bread as carry-on.

He wasn’t the only person with bread in his carry-on. In fairness, I did try Samarkand’s legendary local bread and it was absolutely delicious – so I don’t blame people for wanting to take some with them into Kazakhstan!

The Hard Product

FlyArystan has 30 rows of Economy Class seats on its Airbus A320 in a standard 3-3 configuration. The plane had pleasant mood lighting and seemed like it had been recently refurbished.

The leather seats had a slimline design and no adjustable headrests, but were otherwise comfortable, and the legroom seemed reasonable.

Since I’d paid extra for a Comfort Plus ticket, I was able to choose a seat in the first row.

There was plenty of legroom from my aisle seat, 1C:

I happened to be joined on this flight by two of the writers from Point Hacks, Chris and Victoria, who sat in the other two seats in this row!

There was no in-flight entertainment or Wi-Fi of any sort, which isn’t surprising for a low-cost carrier operating short-haul flights.

The Soft Product

We pushed back right on time at 5.40 pm and the crew completed their safety demonstration in Kazakh, Russian and English. The crew could speak and announcements were made in all three of those languages. The automated English announcements sounded like they were being spoken by Queen Elizabeth II herself.

As you’d expect on a budget airline, there were no included food or drinks. You could pre-order various hot meals online such as chicken crepes, teriyaki chicken or manti (traditional dumplings). A selection of drinks and snacks were also available to purchase on board including instant noodles and donuts.

I ordered a cup of hot noodles, a bottle of flavoured water and a packet of Skittles for around AUD10 in total.

The cabin crew were lovely and the whole experience was no-frills, but in a good way.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.