MIAT Mongolian Airlines is a small national carrier with big ambitions. It wants to be part of the Oneworld alliance – possibly as the next Oneworld Connect member. The airline has also announced its intentions to launch new routes in the coming years from Mongolia to San Francisco, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore and Sydney.
For now, though, MIAT Mongolian Airlines has a fairly modest network connecting Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar to the rest of the country, as well as eastern Asia, Türkiye and Germany. It also has a slightly bizarre fleet, where they seem to have ordered “one of everything”. Okay, it’s not quite that bad… but almost.
So, is MIAT a good airline to fly with?
First of all, MIAT Mongolian Airlines has a solid safety record in the modern jet era – so I had no qualms booking with them. But what’s the onboard service like?
To find out, I flew in Economy Class on the airline’s most popular route, from the Mongolian capital city to Seoul in South Korea. This particular flight was on a Boeing 767-300 – but you can find Boeing 787-9s, Boeing 737-800s, a Boeing 737-700 and a Boeing 737-8 MAX plying this route as well. (MIAT’s fleet also includes one Canadair CRJ-700 and a CRJ-200 which are mainly used for domestic flights, as well as one Boeing 757 freighter.)
As it happens, Australians can visit Mongolia without a visa until the end of 2025. So if you’ve been thinking about a trip, now could be a good time!
Contents
Flight Details
| Flight number | OM309 |
| Route | Ulaanbaatar (UBN) to Seoul (ICN) |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 767-300 |
| Class of travel | Economy |
| Seat number | 25K |
| On-time performance | We arrived 5 minutes early |
| Star rating |  |
The route
Flight Cost
I booked this flight directly through the MIAT website as part of a round-trip booking. In total, I paid AUD555 for a return Economy Class ticket from Seoul to Ulaanbaatar.
It was better value to book this as a return flight rather than two one-way bookings. Interestingly, the price on MIAT’s own website was significantly lower than what came up on Google Flights.
Honestly, MIAT’s website isn’t the best and it took me a few attempts to complete the booking. When I tried later to search for domestic flights on their website, I couldn’t even get any flights to load. That said, the website does have a few quirky features – like the ability to add a carpet to your booking!
Frequent Flyer Program
MIAT has a few codeshare partners, but it doesn’t seem possible to earn or redeem points for MIAT-marketed flights with any frequent flyer program other than the airline’s own MIAT Blue Sky loyalty program.
With no other options, I decided to join Blue Sky and credited my flights to that program. But with no other ways to earn Blue Sky miles (outside of getting a Mongolian credit card), I don’t think I’ll ever earn enough to get anything useful.
Out of interest, redeeming Blue Sky miles seems to be the only way to upgrade to Business Class on MIAT flights. I couldn’t find any option to bid for an upgrade, and when I asked at check-in, I was told it wasn’t possible to pay for an upgrade. That seems like a lost revenue opportunity for MIAT, as Business Class was almost empty on both of my flights and I would have considered paying to upgrade.
Airport Experience
Given Ulaanbaatar’s infamous traffic and the considerable distance from the city, I’d allowed some extra time to get to the airport. In the end, this wasn’t needed and I actually arrived before check-in opened.
Ulaanbaatar’s Chinggis Khan International Airport is almost brand new, having just opened in 2021. It’s a lovely, modern airport with good facilities and lots of space. I had some lunch at the Modern Nomads restaurant until check-in for OM309 opened 2 hours and 45 minutes before departure. Once I joined the check-in queue, I didn’t have to wait long at all.
The airport staff – of which there were quite a lot, given the relatively low number of passengers – were all friendly and efficient. It took just a couple of minutes to clear passport control and security, and I was soon browsing a great selection of duty-free stores stocked with souvenirs like cashmere clothing products and Mongolian vodka. There was also a café and a cosy Japanese ramen restaurant airside.
The main airport terminal offered great runway views and made for some interesting plane-spotting.
Chinggis Khan International Airport has two lounges – one before and one after security – although neither are part of Priority Pass and I didn’t have any access. The lounge before security, located beside the check-in area, seemed to be the contract lounge of choice for airlines other than MIAT.
The MIAT Blue Sky Lounge was located after security and looked excellent. It also seemed to be completely empty. To get in, you would need to be flying MIAT Business Class or hold status in the Blue Sky program. Another AFF member recently visited this lounge – you can see their photos in their trip report.
Interestingly, the TV next to the lounge entrance was playing a promotional video for MIAT on a loop which included a section on upcoming destinations. Sydney was one of them…
Boarding started a bit late but was quick and efficient. We still managed to push back three minutes ahead of schedule.
The Hard Product
I was flying to Seoul on MIAT’s only Boeing 767. At 11 years old, it’s relatively young as far as 767s go.
The Boeing 767 is one of my favourite planes to fly as a passenger. The cabin interior wasn’t the most modern, but the 2-3-2 Economy seating layout is fantastic. The seats are fairly wide and there’s plenty of space.
The cloth seats had plenty of padding and an adjustable headrest.
The legroom was average, but fine. One thing that did get a bit annoying was the wire in the top of the seat pocket that happened to be right at my knee level. Admittedly I’m a bit taller than average, but this was pressing into my knees for much of the flight.
Each seat came with a USB charging port and an in-flight entertainment screen on the back of the seat in front.
The entertainment system included a moving map and a few Mongolian movies and TV shows. Most of the movies and shows were in Mongolian, with no subtitles or dubbing in any other language. Although music and games were also listed on the menu, none were actually available. It’s perhaps also worth noting that my seat neighbour’s TV screen did not work.
The good news is that you could stream additional entertainment to your own electronic device. Although MIAT didn’t offer in-flight Wi-Fi, you could connect to their onboard network to access a much wider variety of movies and TV shows – including options in English. This is similar to what Qantas does on some of its Boeing 737s, except that the onboard TV screen doesn’t display titles that you can only watch on your own device.
There was also a “Mongolica” in-flight magazine in the seat pocket.
The Soft Product
I loved the traditional Mongolian music that was playing during boarding, and the crew proudly announced at the start of the flight that we were on board the aircraft named “Chinggis Khan”. All announcements were in Mongolian and English, with some also made in Korean.
Other than that, I don’t think the airline really felt that “Mongolian”. I felt like I could have been on almost any generic international airline. That said, I appreciated the clear, no-nonsense animated safety video.
The MIAT ground crew members waved us goodbye as we taxied out towards the runway.
We then took off just before sunset, with the Boeing 767 quickly setting course for South Korea.
MIAT Mongolian is a full-service airline. After take-off, the cabin crew distributed headphones and bottles of water.
The flight attendants were professional, spoke English fluently and worked well as a team. I liked the distinctive uniforms, particularly the aprons that some of the crew wore during the meal service.
A complimentary dinner and drinks were served on this flight. There were two hot meal choices, described only by the cabin crew as “chicken or beef”. I had no idea what to expect from either option, so my seat neighbour and I got one of each. This was the chicken, which I think was the better choice:
The chicken came with rice, pak choy and sweet potato. It also came with lots of accompaniments on the tray including a salad, a bread roll with butter, some small chocolates and biscuits, and a piece of cake for dessert.
For comparison, this was the beef option:
Available drinks included beer, wine, soft drinks, juice and water.
The meal came with wooden cutlery inside a paper sachet that said “Save the green world”. The tray liner also proclaimed the airline’s environmental credentials. At the same time, the bread roll was wrapped in plastic, as was the salad which came with a small single-use plastic tub of dressing. The dessert also had a plastic lid on it, and the butter, a small biscuit, a small chocolate and a small lolly were all individually packaged. Hmm.
I enjoyed my meal, although my neighbour’s beef was apparently a bit dry and had a strange flavour.
After dinner, a cabin crew member came through the plane with a duty-free shopping trolley. The remainder of the flight was uneventful and we landed slightly early on a very foggy morning in Seoul.
MIAT Mongolian Airlines Boeing 767-300 Economy Class
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Airport Experience
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Hard Product
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Soft Product
Final thoughts
Although my Economy Class flight on MIAT Mongolian Airlines was nothing spectacular, it was perfectly comfortable and the service was great.
The plane wasn’t the most modern, the in-flight entertainment could be better and I perhaps would have liked to see a few more Mongolian touches. Nonetheless, I would happily fly again with MIAT and hope they realise their ambitions of becoming a Oneworld Connect member – they’d be a great, niche addition to the alliance.
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