Uzbekistan Airways Economy Review Tashkent to Samarkand A320

Uzbekistan Airways isn't known for its quality product or customer service. I was curious to try the airline andanyways, ithas the monopoly on the route from Tashkent to Samarkand.

Tashkent Airport is bureaucratic and you just end up giving your passport to anyone who asks; there are a lot of checks. It was 6AM and I was too sleepy to count. From the city center, the domestic airport is about 5 miles past the international one.



There is no Priority Pass lounge at the domestic airport, but if you fly business class there is a odd-looking lounge with leather sofas. There is no WiFi at this airport so Skyroam was my online way to communicate (read my Skyroam review here).

A modern bus took us to the A320 and boarding was perfectly on time. Thiswasn'tthe newest plane, but my last Vueling flight was on a much older airplane.







There seemed to be a general lack of care with this plane and also with the safety instructions. The plane seemed less than perfectly maintained or cleaned and the safety instructions were largely skipped.

The business class cabin was completely full with a flight crew for another flight.



Since Tashkent Airport isn't exactly a major hub, we had no competition for the runway and took off a few minutes early.









After a few minutes of cruising we started our descent and got into Samarkand early, before 8AM.

The whole flight was just $20 when booked through opodo.de and it was as efficient as it could be. Yes there was one too many security checkpoints, but for a state-owned airline it was as good as could beexpected. It was better than riding the train (see my review of taking the train from Samarkand to Tashkent) and somewhat faster too. I would have wished for a leather seat and better care, but really, for a $20 ticket and a free checked bag - can you expect that in this part of the world?

You can book yourUzbekistan Airways flight here.